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FORD CHAMPIONSHIP AT DORAL

March 4, 2006

Camilo Villegas

DORAL, FLORIDA

JOAN vT ALEXANDER: It's been a great week, I know you must be a little disappointed with that last hole but you ought to be proud of yourself.

CAMILO VILLEGAS: Yeah.

Q. On the 16th hole, were you surprised you were on the green when Tiger drove?

CAMILO VILLEGAS: I heard it. I heard it and I kind of go, "Man, this guy can hit it here." He pushed it a little bit, but I hit it, too.

Q. While the people were on the green, you hit?

CAMILO VILLEGAS: Yeah, it was going to be very tough to fly it on there.

Q. Were you even thinking about tomorrow before the 18th, playing with Tiger in the final?

CAMILO VILLEGAS: A little bit. I hit my tee shot and then I look at the board and I go, like, oh, I'm second. I know Tiger is leading, so see what we can do. Hopefully make a nice little par here on 18 and play with him. I was working hard on that one but I had no shot when I got to my ball. I started focusing on hitting a good third shot on the green, which I did and unfortunately I just missed a short one there to go home.

JOAN vT ALEXANDER: Let's go through your birdies and bogeys. You birdied the first hole, the par 5.

CAMILO VILLEGAS: Yeah, hit a good drive on that hole. Just hit a 6 iron on the green and 2 putted. Then I hit an awful tee shot on No. 4 and hit it in the water, just didn't get it up and down.

Q. What was the club?

CAMILO VILLEGAS: 5 iron.

8, hit a great drive again and then the club almost went off my hands, the second shot. I was lucky, I hit it over the water, hit a nice chip, nice putt there for birdie.

10, a good tee shot, just kind of sneaked it in the left rough, a good second shot, and a nice chip to hit it there about three or four feet and a nice putt.

11 was good. I was proud of that one. I had not birdied any of the par 4s and I hit a great second shot and I rolled a nice putt in there about maybe a 20 footer.

14, I hit it very close and missed a short one, a little disappointed.

I came back and almost holed one on 15. Then you guys saw 18.

Q. Can you talk about the rulings on 18, why you didn't get any relief first and they get a drop later?

CAMILO VILLEGAS: Well, the sticks holding the tree were fixed so I was only going to get relief if it was bothering with my stance or my swing, and they weren't. So just went in the first fairway and hit a nice third shot and then just ended up with a 6.

Q. Why did you get the drop on the fairway in the first place?

CAMILO VILLEGAS: I had line of sight with the tent.

Q. What did you have for the third on the 18th?

CAMILO VILLEGAS: 8 iron.

Q. Did you have any other options on your second shot, or were you going to go that way all the way?

CAMILO VILLEGAS: You know what, it was funny. I was going to go to the 18th fairway, but it was going to be a tricky shot. I had some stuff hanging from the tree and I could have just clipped that one and then I was going to have to bounce it into the rough and hope for a good bounce and stay in the fairway.

Then I was almost ready to hit and, and then my caddie goes, how about we take a look here to the right. I know we're going to get a drop here with the tent.

So that kind of set me back a little bit, we just went through everything again. I think we made the right call.

Q. How big is this back home in Colombia, are you hearing things?

CAMILO VILLEGAS: I know that there was a network that bought the rights to run the final rounds of the PGA TOUR, and this week they are running the last three. So it's awesome. If there's anything I can do to grow the sport in Columbia and give some people some smiles, that's what I'm here for.

Q. Can you estimate how many Colombian fans you had today, any idea, a couple of hundred?

CAMILO VILLEGAS: It was awesome. It was unbelievable. I was not expecting that crowd.

And playing in front of Tiger kind of got a lot of people out there, kind of watching a little bit of both groups. A heard a lot of Colombians and I heard a lot of Gators out there. So that's fun, it's fun. It definitely motivates you and gives you a little kick to battle out there.

Q. You talk about wanting to grow the sport; is that why you stick around so long after your round to sign autographs and to meet the fans?

CAMILO VILLEGAS: You know what, I saw Phil one time signing a lot of autographs at TPC. I think the crowds like him a lot. They were awesome out there. They were awesome. They were yelling, they were screaming, and they were just motivating me and supporting me. I guess that's the least I can do to give them a little back.

Q. Tiger is pretty good with a lead, do you think you can catch him tomorrow?

CAMILO VILLEGAS: I'm just try to hit one shot at a time.

Q. How comfortable are you with your short putting right now?

CAMILO VILLEGAS: You know what, I'm more comfortable than ever in the last three years. I started working with Gio Valiente Last week, actually and things have improved a lot. I feel good over my putting, I don't know why. I missed two, but that's fine, it's going to happen. We saw it last year in the final round with Phil and Tiger.

Q. Are you more disappointed with the short putt you missed or 18?

CAMILO VILLEGAS: I'm looking forward to it tomorrow actually.

Q. You're going to be ahead of Tiger again tomorrow; what is the dynamic of that, do you like to be chasing a little bit?

CAMILO VILLEGAS: I think I'm going to be, what, the third group? I don't know, third, fourth group. So it's probably going to be less busy out there tomorrow, which is fine. I like big crowds, but, I mean, whatever you've got, you've got to deal with it.

Like I said, go out there, keep having fun, and keep hitting one shot at a time.

Q. Your little brother said that when your house gets built it's going to be the neatest house in Florida, what do you suppose he meant by that?

CAMILO VILLEGAS: I don't know about that. Is he going to keep it neat or what (laughter)?

Q. You tell me. It sounds like he's got no choice.

CAMILO VILLEGAS: I hope so.

Q. Are you that neat?

CAMILO VILLEGAS: I like my things in order. I like my things in order and clean. It's getting better (smiling).

Q. What's your affection for pink shirts?

CAMILO VILLEGAS: Is this pink?

Q. Fuchsia.

CAMILO VILLEGAS: I think golf is so classic, just trying to be a little more bright out there, a little more fun. Maybe a little different. You're seeing a lot of guys out there just trying to give a little taste and have fun with it.

Q. Your autograph session has become a family affair out there, everybody is bringing you stuff, can you talk about that a little bit?

CAMILO VILLEGAS: Yeah, you know what, it's awesome to have my parents here. They don't get to come here very often, they are going to be here for this week and next week. I finally convinced them to take two weeks off work. It was tough, but they finally did it. I'm just happy to be around them.

Q. Do you at all, as young as you are, daydream about winning that first one, and what would it mean to you if you were able to break through tomorrow?

CAMILO VILLEGAS: Everybody dreams about winning. I mean, that's what we play, that's why we compete. Is it going to happen? I hope so. When? I don't know. But hopefully not too far. And tomorrow, like I said, I'm just going to go out there and have fun and hit one shot at a time and we'll see what happens.

Q. What are your parents names and your brother's name?

CAMILO VILLEGAS: My dad is Fernando. My mom is Louise Marina and my brother is Manuel.

JOAN vT ALEXANDER: Thank you.

End of FastScripts.

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