Golf | Camilo Villegas, Vijay Singh hit jackpots

ATLANTA — A two-putt par to win The Tour Championship in a playoff was worth an extra $1.5 million to Camilo Villegas of Colombia.

A 7-iron to a scary pin on the 71st hole, under perhaps more pressure than he has faced?

That was invaluable.

Villegas overcame a five-shot deficit with six birdies on his final 11 holes of regulation — the last one after going at the flag on the 17th — and won The Tour Championship on the first extra hole against Sergio Garcia of Spain to post his second consecutive victory.

"Winning is awesome," Villegas said after closing with a 4-under-par 66.

The 26-year-old Villegas, who had gone 85 starts on the PGA Tour without winning, picked up another victory, with a finish that brought the gallery to life on a sunny afternoon at East Lake.

In a four-man battle coming to the final holes, Villegas caught Garcia with a 7-iron from 184 yards to 12 feet on the 17th, and twice hit beautiful lag putts from 45 feet for par on the 233-yard 18th — once in regulation to finish at 7-under 273 and also in the playoff to win.

Americans Anthony Kim and Phil Mickelson each shot 69, and each had a chance to join the playoff. Kim, playing in the second-to-last group with Villegas, missed from 30 feet. In the final group, Mickelson missed his birdie attempt from 20 feet.

Garcia, who blew a 54-hole lead of at least three shots for the third consecutive time, also had a 20-foot birdie putt to win in regulation. He didn't give himself much of a chance in the playoff when his 4-iron came up 30 yards short and to the right.

"I doubted myself too much early on, and it cost me," said Garcia, who squandered a six-shot lead in 2005 at the Wachovia Championship and a three-shot lead last year in the British Open at Carnoustie.

What was supposed to be the highlight of The Tour Championship — the FedEx Cup — turned into an afterthought.

Vijay Singh effectively wrapped up the $10 million prize two weeks earlier in St. Louis, so all he had to do was finish 72 holes at East Lake and sign for the correct score to secure the FedEx Cup.

"I made one birdie and one bogey. It was easy not to make a mistake," said Singh, who closed with a 70 and tied for 22nd in the 30-player field.

Villegas earned $1.26 million for winning the tournament and a $3 million bonus for finishing second to Singh. Garcia made a total of $2.756 million.

Ochoa wins on LPGA Tour

PRATTVILLE, Ala. — Top-ranked Lorena Ochoa of Mexico won the Navistar LPGA Classic for her seventh victory of the year and first since May, beating former USC standout Candie Kung with a 2-foot par putt on the second hole of a playoff.

"I had a good feeling that today it was my day and it was going to happen," Ochoa said.

Recharged after a month away from the Tour, Ochoa closed with a 2-under 70 to match Kung (67) and Cristie Kerr (66) at 15-under 273 for 72 holes. Kerr was eliminated with a bogey on the first extra hole.

Ochoa, who entered the season 1-5 in LPGA Tour playoffs, earned $210,000 for her 24th career victory.

Louise Friberg, a former Washington Huskies player, was tied for the lead with Ochoa after three rounds. Friberg (72) tied for sixth place at 13 under.

Wendy Ward (72), who lives near Edwall, outside Spokane, tied for 54th place at 3 under. Jimin Kang (76), a graduate of King's High School in Shoreline, finished 79th at 5 over.

Other tournaments

• Argentina's Eduardo Romero won the SAS Championship for his third victory in his five tournaments since the start of July on the 50-and-older Champions Tour. Romero, 54, closed with a 6-under 66 for a 15-under 201 total and a three-stroke victory over American Tom Kite (69) in Cary, N.C. Romero earned $315,000.

• Spain's Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano won the British Masters, beating defending champion Lee Westwood of England with a par on the third playoff hole in Sutton Coldfield, England.

Fernandez-Castano closed with a 5-under 67 to match Westwood (70) at 276 for 72 holes.