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via Imago

via Imago

If making a comeback were a sport, Camilo Villegas would surely triumph in it. The Colombian golfer made his greatest comeback at the World Wide Championship 2023 last week in Mexico. This was Villegas’ first contention in the last 10 years.

Now, the 41-year-old is playing in Cabo at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship 2023. Before hitting the greens, Villegas talked about the “demons” haunting golfers, as they move from one course to another.

Camilo Villegas reveals the struggle of being a pro golfer

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Camilo Villegas’ most recent victory was at the Wyndham Championship 2014. He came nearly close to winning in 2016 at the RSM Classic, but was left disappointed at T2. However, in February this year, Villegas hired a new coach from Argentina.

The 4x PGA Tour winner met with coach Jose Campra and they worked through the hardest part of his game. Commenting on his instructor, Villegas said, “He was very honest with me. He said, ‘I need a year’.” Campra promised Villegas he would enhance his golf from the previous year, and fans could see the results last week in El Cardonal.

However, making a comeback and proving people wrong was not a glorious ride. Villegas wanted the public to know that. “Let’s tell the viewer out there, people think that we just kind of chill out here and we’re very comfortable doing what we’re doing. There’s a lot of demons out here and when you’ve been doing it for a long time, golf is hard,” he said at the Butterfield Bermuda press conference.

Finding himself in the winners bracket after nine winless years surely impacted Villegas’ confidence and boosted his trust in himself. He talked about what was missing that last week that ensured his T2 finish.

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Villegas shares his lack of fear

Last week, Camilo Villegas was leading the scoreboard of the World Wide Championship 2023. Although he finished second with Matt Kuchar, this was a great feat for the golfer. Speaking about being in the reckoning after a long time and if it was scary, Villegas said, “Everybody feels fear at some point playing golf, playing competitive golf, playing against the best players in the world.” 

While expressing how to manage that fear, Villegas said, “It’s about looking forward to feeling that not fear, kind of reshaping that fear into something a little bit.” He revealed that surprisingly, he did not feel that fear in Mexico and wished to “keep it going”. 

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Villegas stands tied at 12 in the Butterfield Bermuda Championship with 12 under after two rounds and six holes.

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