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BMW INTERNATIONAL OPENJune 24, 2015Camilo VillegasEICHENRIED, GERMANY STEVE TODD: Camilo, warm welcome to the BMW International Open. Thank you very much for joining us. If you can just start by giving us your thoughts on being here and playing in this tournament for the first time and being in Germany this week. CAMILO VILLEGAS: Yeah, pretty excited to be in Germany. Haven't been here in a long time. I played Eisenhower in Berlin, I think when I was an amateur, maybe 2000. I've always wanted to come to this tournament. Marco and I are good friends, and we finally made it work this year. After I won last year, I told Marco, you know what, count on me for 2015, and here we are. So had a chance to play about 12 holes yesterday. The golf course is in great shape. It's nice to see grass after playing last week at the U.S. Open. Looking forward to this week. STEVE TODD: You won the BMW Championship on the PGA Tour for your first victory. How special would it be to come across and win the BMW Championship on The European Tour? CAMILO VILLEGAS: Yeah, 2008, I won my first tournament on the PGA was the BMW, so great memories. BMW just puts a great show wherever they go. I've had a chance to play some of their events and they are world‑class events. They are a great supporter of our game around the world, maybe one of the biggest supporters of the game. And we just have to say thanks for that, thanks for supporting us, for being there. And yes, that would be pretty special. Always when you get a chance to hold the trophy, it makes your‑‑ you're just accomplishing your goals and you're doing what you know you have to be doing. It would be pretty special. STEVE TODD: Have you had a chance to have a look at the course yet this week? CAMILO VILLEGAS: Yeah, like I said, I played 12 holes yesterday, and it's in very good shape. The golf course is nice. I know, when was it, Monday night, it rained quite a bit. But I was surprised to see it in good conditions yesterday, and looking like we are going to have some good weather Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. Saturday looks a little shaky, but if we can get through Saturday, the golf course is going to be playing nice and firm on Sunday and it will be a good challenge. Q. Can you talk a little bit about your career? You had really great years, and then there were a few years where you were a little bit fighting. Where do you see yourself right now on this age of your career? CAMILO VILLEGAS: Yeah, it's just life, not only in sports, but in everything. You have good, average and bad years. I've been very fortunate to have more good ones than bad ones. I got a chance to get on the PGA Tour early in my career. Came out and played well and cracked the Top‑50 in the world, got up to 7 and had a chance to start playing all the majors. 2011 I had a little hiccup. It wasn't my best year. I just lost a little confidence, but I regrouped in 2012. Got my PGA Tour card again. 2013, 2014 were interesting where I found a little more consistency but nothing special. Winning at the end of last year‑‑ winning last year was my main goal, and I accomplished it toward the end of the year which was nice. 2015 has been a little bit slow again, but we keep grinding. You know what, sometimes we let golf determine our mood, our lives and how everything is going, but life is good. We all want to play better, every time, doesn't matter. You're No.100 in the world, you want to be 80; you're No. 5, you want to be No.2; you're No. 2, you want to be 1. We are always working on that. We are constantly grinding and trying to get better. I feel good. I feel pretty good in terms of how my life is moving right now, and I just go out there, do my best and try to make some putts. Q. You're one of the big names this week, along with maybe Martin and Henrik. Do you see yourself as one of the favorites? CAMILO VILLEGAS: Yeah, I'll go out there and do my best like I said. It's nice to be here. Martin and Henrik and all those guys are good friends. There are also a lot of familiar faces that I haven't seen in a while here which is good. I haven't played in Europe in a while. So again, I'm looking forward to this week. I'm going to give it my best. Hopefully come Sunday, I can be up there, give myself a chance and walk out of here with good memories. Q. From your potential, you should have I think won a major already. So what separates you still from being a Major Champion? CAMILO VILLEGAS: It's hard. Trust me, those guys are good out there. There's a lot of great names that still haven't had a major that have had better careers than me. I am definitely not one of the best without a major. I think I've got a long way to go. I think I can still accomplish some of the goals I want to accomplish. Obviously winning a major is one of them. If you want to be part of the history of the game, you've got to win a major. That's still on the bucket list. Kids like Jordan Spieth come out there quick, 21, now he has two in there which is great for him. He's an unbelievable player. But again, I feel comfortable with how everything is rolling, and we'll keep working at it. Q. You said in the beginning that it's nice to see grass again after Chambers Bay. There's been a lot of criticism about the course. Can you explain more what you mean with the standard of Chambers Bay and the grass and everything? CAMILO VILLEGAS: Yeah, I think enough has been said out there from players and commentators and everybody. I actually saw the Instagram quotes that Ian Poulter put up a couple days ago, and I think he was right on. Poulter being one of the more critical guys, I think he said it the right way. He mentioned all the good things, and he mentioned the reality, which was the golf course wasn't in U.S. Open‑quality shape. It is what it is. The week's over. Obviously there was a champion. The champion, I'm sure, is pretty happy, even though he probably thinks the golf course was not in very good shape, too. Actually, I know he thinks the golf course was not in very good shape. It is what it is. I'll be pretty surprised if we go back there, and if we do, the greens have got to be in better shape. Q. Can you describe a little bit, how much did your success effect golf in your home country? How huge is your status as a star there, and what happened with your success there? CAMILO VILLEGAS: Yeah, you know, I've been very fortunate. The game of golf has been great to me. Obviously being from Colombia, a country where everything revolves around soccer, or football, it was nice. In 2006, they started covering a lot of Tour events on TV. The country, the kids started learning about the game. They got more involved. There's more programmes, more talent, more kids going to the U.S. to play golf in the university. That's a big step. And hopefully more guys on the Web.com, which there are about four or five Colombian kids on the Web.com, and I'm just waiting to have more of them on Tour. I always keep saying, I don't want to be the only Colombian on the PGA Tour. They are moving along in the right direction. The game has grown. There's more incentive. There's more programs. There's more knowledge. It's always nice to have somebody out there that people can look at. It's no different than watching a football game or watching a car race when you have one of your friends or national icons up there. It makes it more fun. Q. Are you putting with Spiderman still? CAMILO VILLEGAS: No, I haven't done it in a while. You know what, the more I think with putting, the less putts I make. I'm trying to keep it simple right now and just feel a little more, just get over the ball and just react to it a little bit more. I used to do it on very straight putts. I wasn't sure if it was going to go a little bit left or a little bit right. Maybe we'll bring it out there a couple times. STEVE TODD: Camilo, we appreciate you joining us and wish you luck this week. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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