Stat attack!: Wyndham Championship review

It would be nice to say that Camilo Villegas was light’s out at the Wyndham Championship from start to finish. But that wouldn’t quite be true.

On Friday and Saturday Villegas had rounds of 69-68, pedestrian to say the least on a week when the field had to be under par in the first two rounds just to make the cut.

Instead it was Villegas’ start and finish that earned him his fourth PGA Tour victory and first in more than four years, bookend 63s lifting him to a 17-under 263 for a one-stroke victory over Nick Watney and Freddie Jacobson.

Villegas is the first PGA Tour player to start and finish the week with scores of 63 or better since James Hahn at the 2013 Humana Challenge. Of the six players since 2000 to begin and end their weeks with such low scores, only three wound up winners.

Starting and finishing the week with a score of 63 or better: 2000-2014

Not surprisingly, Villegas matched the season best for lowest first-round score by a winner and for lowest final-round score by a winner. According to the PGA Tour Media Guide, this is just the third time since 1970 that the same week provided the year’s best score in both categories. In addition to Villegas, Kenny Perry turned the trick at the 2009 Travelers Championship as did Grier Jones at the 1972 Hawaiian Open.

Lowest first-round score by a winner in 2013-14

Lowest final-round score by a winner in 2013-14

Villegas’ victory wasn’t quite expected. The veteran hadn’t won since the 2010 Honda Classic, and although he made the cut in 17 of 25 starts this season his best finish was a T-11 at the FedEx St. Jude Classic. Although he was 136th on the PGA Tour money list entering the week, he had secured his position in the PGA Tour playoffs at 105th in the FedEx Cup standings. He is one of six winners this season who didn’t have another top-10 finish in the regular season.

PGA Tour winners with no other top 10s in 2013-14

Entering the week, Villegas ranked just 126th on Tour in driving accuracy, but he had control of his drives at Sedgefield. In fact he had uncanny accuracy off the tee and onto the green, finishing in the top 10 in the field in fairways hit and greens in regulation.

Villegas’ top stats at the Wyndham Championship

His improvement is noticeable. His percentage of fairways hit was his best this year in a tournament in which he made the cut (he had a better percentage only at the Valspar Championship, where he failed to play the weekend. It was his second-best week of the year in GIR percentage.

Villegas’ best weeks in driving accuracy in 2013-14

Villegas’ best weeks in greens in regulation in 2013-14

Villegas’ pinpoint accuracy helped him hit a tournament-best 21 consecutive greens during the Wyndham. Villegas his 16 straight greens Thursday (starting with No. 12, his third hole of the day), and his first five on Friday. It was eight more than he hit during any other tournament this year.

Most consecutive greens hit at the Wyndham Championship