Camillo Villegas makes it to the 4th position in the Chevron World Challenge

(This entry was originally published in this blog December 2008 and it is based on the information of that time.)

In the second round of the ongoing Chevron World Challenge at the Sherwood Country Club, Camilo Villegas pushed his way into the second position with a score of 5 under par. Jim Furyk, who is in the number one position, failed to continue his good peroformance in the second round. Furyk scored one under par. His total score is 139. On the 18^th hole, he scored a bogey on which he scored a birdie in the first round. After finishing the round, he told reporters that he had hung in there today. He was not crisp with his iron game and did not have many birdie opportunities but he managed to limit his mistakes.

Camilo Villegas scored an eagle on the 11^th hole. Currently world’s 7^th top golfer, it will be Camillo’s third win in US if he wins this championship. He tied for the second position with K.J. Choi and Anthony Kim. All three of them scored 141. Reuters reports:

“I swung the club a lot better today than yesterday,” the muscular Colombian said after setting up his eagle at the 11th with a three-wood to six feet that narrowly cleared trees guarding the front edge of the green.

“Three birdies to get started but then I made three bogeys there,” he added, referring to dropped shots at the fifth, ninth and 10th. “I was a little disappointed but an eagle on the 11th hole got me back on track.”

On the muddy course in the second round, Villegas played a great game. He got into the World’s Top ten by winning two events of 2008 PGA Tour’s FedExCup series. He said that it was his third year on the tour and it took him a little longer to win but he has got better over the years and in the coming years he will try to win more tournaments.

Fred Couples, the 49 year old fan favorite scored three under par. He tied for the fifth position with Steve Stricker by scoring 142. He scored birdies in the first three holes of his nine outs. Despite suffering from back problems, Couples gave a good fight. He said that he had played good the previous day but much better today. One of his adavantage over other players is that he played several times in the Sherwood Country Club and he knows the course very well.

Chevron World Challenge Tournament: Jim Furyk has not finished yet

(This entry was originally published in this blog December 2008 and it is based on the information of that time.)

On the first day of the Chevron World Challenge at the Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks, California, American golfer, Jim Furyk, acquired the top position by scoring an impressive 4 under par. In the first round, he was one of the sixteen players to score below 70. However, he failed to score birdies on any par-5 holes. Jim was also the only player to score a birdie on the 18^th hole which is the toughest one in the course. Los Angeles Times reports:

“My expectations weren’t that high . . . as little as I’ve been playing,” said Furyk, who has 13 career wins, including the 2003 U.S. Open, and earned $3.4 million in 2008. “It’s a good score and I’m happy with it, but I need to build on it.”

The year 2008 has not been very good for Jim Furyk. He did not win any major tournament. He was actually on a four month vacation. Prior to this match, he played in PGA Grand Slam of Golf in Bermuda on October 15, 2008. The Chevron World Challenge is his last match of 2008. In 2009, he will start his season at the AT&T Pebbel Beach Pro-Am.

Both K.J. Choic and Boo Weekley tied for the second position with 2 under par. Weekley, a Florida golfer who played in 2008 Ryder Cup, said that he had never played golf in weather like that but he had hunted in it. Another fan favorite is 49 year old golfer, Fred Couples, who scored one over par. He scored a birdie on the first hole. This is Couples’ eighth challenge match. Couples did not win any tournament since 2003. He is going to play on the Champions Tour for senior players.

The sixteen player match, which is on its 10^th year, has started from December 17, 2008. It is hosted by golf’s living legend, Tiger Woods. He announced that Steve Williams will continue to work as his caddie despite his controversial comments on Phil Mickelson.

Related articles:

Seattle Times

Los Angeles Times