TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Overcoming The Language Barrier

ADVERTISEMENT

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 4, 2008

Camilo Villegas works hard, sets goals and stays organized so he can manage his time. Those are good attributes for a PGA Tour player.

But that's what it took for him just to survive college.

Villegas struggled with his English when he left Colombia to attend the University of Florida, where he found himself in classrooms with as many as 300 students. He could understand better than he could speak, and reading took time.

But he graduated in 2004 with a degree in business and a GPA of 3.8.

"Reading, it was very slow, but it was good," Villegas said. "When you have classes with 300, 400 students, I didn't see the point of showing up. I just got my book, I read it, and I went and took the test. It took time, and obviously coming to Florida and having all those new opportunities was a little overwhelming.

"But you have to just really manage your time, have a good plan for every day and stick to it."

The hardest aspect of a new country was speaking, and Villegas said it didn't help that he was shy. In golf terms, he decided to start firing at flags.

"One day I said, 'You know what? Hell with it. I'm just going to open my mouth, and whatever comes out, comes out,'" he said.

LOWERING THE BOOM-BOOM

The four-man field for the LG Skins Game was announced last week, and the biggest news was who would not be playing at Indian Wells over Thanksgiving weekend.

How can there be a Skins Game without Fred Couples?

Couples is playfully known as the "King of the Silly Season," especially the Skins Game. He has played 14 times, captured 95 skins and earned more than $4.2 million, more than he has made playing in the majors.

Instead, defending champion Stephen Ames will join Phil Mickelson, K.J. Choi and Rocco Mediate.

"I'm glad I'm not playing," Couples said. "I'm done with golf. I was feeling so good, but I think I'm playing too much."

DOUBLE DUTY

Jim "Bones" Mackay stays busy enough looking after Phil Mickelson. But the longtime caddie for the world's No. 2 player was scrambling Saturday at the Deutsche Bank Championship.

Mickelson played in the morning. Mackay's brother, Tom, was to be married that evening in Vermont.

And he managed to be there for both.

"He had the option to take the day off, the week off, whatever he wanted," Mickelson said. "But it shows what he's like. He's truly the best at what he does."

Mackay got a huge break when Mickelson received the late-early draw, meaning he finished about 1 p.m. Saturday. He thought about chartering a helicopter, but learned it was even cheaper to charter a jet.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT