Wyndham Championship

Villegas' 63 enough for one-shot victory

Camilo Villegas, of Colombia, reacts following a putt on the 15th green during the final round of the Wyndham Championship golf tournament in Greensboro, N.C., Sunday, Aug. 17, 2014. Villegas won the tournament with a 17 under-par 263. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)
Camilo Villegas, of Colombia, reacts following a putt on the 15th green during the final round of the Wyndham Championship golf tournament in Greensboro, N.C., Sunday, Aug. 17, 2014. Villegas won the tournament with a 17 under-par 263. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)

GREENSBORO, N.C. -- When Camilo Villegas finished his final round in the Wyndham Championship, he was hoping to get into a playoff.

Instead, every other contender stumbled, and the Colombian didn't have to hit another shot to win his first PGA Tour title since 2010.

Villegas shot a 7-under 63 and finished at 17-under 263. He earned $954,000 and 500 FedEx Cup points in the final regular-season event.

Villegas had four birdies and an eagle on the front nine, added a birdie on the par-5 15th and watched the rest of the tournament from the air-conditioned scorer's tent with his caddie.

"I was hoping for a playoff," Villegas said. "I thought I needed one more [stroke]."

Turns out, he didn't. When the rest of the field struggled late, he wound up with his fourth PGA Tour title and first since the 2010 Honda Classic.

He also became the second first-round leader to win the tournament since its 2008 move back to Sedgefield Country Club and first since Arjun Atwal in 2010.

Bill Haas and Freddie Jacobson tied for second. Haas had a 64, and Jacobson shot 66.

Heath Slocum was two strokes back after his 67. Brandt Snedeker, Webb Simpson and third-round leader Nick Watney were at 14 under.

Villegas had to wait about 40 minutes after his round ended before his victory was secure.

"When the boys got closer to the last hole, you can get a little anxious," Villegas said. "You don't have a golf club in your hand. You can't really control it."

Watney was at 17 under and appeared headed for his sixth PGA Tour victory before he ran into trouble on 14 and picked up his third bogey of the tournament and second of the day.

He followed with three consecutive pars, leaving him needing a birdie on the final hole to tie Villegas.

Watney wound up with a double bogey after his tee shot bounced past a cart path and out of bounds.

"I knew what was at stake, and I pushed it a little bit," Watley said. "Extremely disappointed. If you said at any point, you birdie [the] last hole, you're in a playoff, you would take it. ... That was really a bad shot at a really bad time."

That came after Jacobson also couldn't catch Villegas.

The Swede's second shot on 18 fell short of the green and his 70-foot birdie putt from the front edge rolled well past the hole before he was wide with his par putt.

"It really sucks when you play solid all day and, you know, I really thought it was my day coming in," Jacobson said. "All I needed was a solid strike to get up there and good feed in and have a good chance of winning."

Villegas began five strokes back but made a quick trip up the leaderboard, with three birdies and an eagle among his first five holes to move to 15 under and put himself within striking distance.

The other main subplot here this week was the last-gasp push for spots in the PGA Tour's playoffs, which begin next week at The Barclays in New Jersey.

Slocum, who arrived at No. 158 on the points list, was briefly at 17 under but slipped off the pace by closing with two bogeys that also helped keep him out of The Barclays field. He finished at No. 129.

Martin Laird, who was at No. 136, was near the lead all weekend but his tie for 14th could only propel him to No. 127.

Paul Casey, 125th at the start of the week, tied for 18th to put himself safely in the field. Sang-Moon Bae played his way into the playoffs with a tie for 14th that moved him to No. 120. Jhonattan Vegas was at No. 124 but kept himself securely in the field with his tie for eighth.

Unfortunately for David Lingmerth (Arkansas Razorbacks) who started the weekend at No. 129, his 1-over finish left him in 74th for the tournament and 134th in the FedEx standings.

CHAMPIONS

Langer wins fifth

ENDICOTT, N.Y. -- Bernhard Langer rallied to win the Dick's Sporting Goods Open on Sunday for his fifth Champions Tour victory of the year, while Kevin Sutherland followed his tour-record 59 with a 74 to drop into a tie for seventh.

Langer, 56, closed with a bogey-free 66 for a one-stroke victory over Woody Austin and Mark O'Meara. Langer finished at 16-under 200 at En-Joie for his 23rd career victory on the 50-and-over tour.

Sutherland, the second-round leader, had five bogeys -- four on the first 10 holes -- and three birdies in the final round. Playing his third Champions Tour event since turning 50 in June, he finished at 12 under.

Austin had a 65, and O'Meara shot.

Langer, tied for fifth with Bob Charles on the tour victory list, earned $277,500 to increase his tour-leading total to $2,652,520. The German has three victories in his last five starts.

EUROPEAN

Warren downs Dredge

AALBORG, Denmark -- Scotland's Marc Warren held off Bradley Dredge to win Made in Denmark by two shots Sunday, shooting a 3-under 68 in the last round to secure his third European Tour title.

Warren and Dredge were tied atop the leaderboard overnight but Warren surged ahead with three birdies on his first eight holes to open up a four-shot lead. He made two more birdies coming home and could afford his second bogey on the day on the 18th hole for a 9-under 275 total.

Dredge finished with a 70 after mixing six birdies with five bogeys.

England's Phillip Archer finished third, another three shots back.

U.S. AMATEUR

Yang caps wild ride

JOHNS CREEK, Ga. -- South Korea's Gunn Yang has completed his improbable run to the U.S. Amateur title with a 2-and-1 victory over Canada's Corey Conners.

At No. 776, Yang became the lowest-ranked player in the world amateur standings to win the country's biggest title for non-professional golfers. Along the way, he beat five players inside the top 100, including the 44th-ranked Conners.

The 20-year-old Yang, a San Diego State player, never trailed in the 36-hole final at Atlanta Athletic Club, pushing his lead to 2 up with four to play by rolling in an 18-foot birdie putt at No. 14. He closed out the match with a tap-in par at No. 17, the 35th hole.

The South Korean was 1 up after the morning round. Afternoon play was halted by a rain delay of 1 hour, 37 minutes.

Sports on 08/18/2014

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