The young Colombian, who played a practice round with Norman on Tuesday, looked out of the tournament after a bogey-bogey start to his second round, but an astonishing run of five birdies in his last five holes hauled him to second place at the halfway stage of the second round. Villegas shot a tournament-best five-under 65 to be at one-over 141, just one shot behind the Australian legend.
Villegas is playing only his first British Open, and made it to the field only when American Kenny Perry pulled out of the championship two weeks back.
And the flamboyant Colombian is loving every moment at the links course.
“It’s just funky, and I don’t mean it in a bad way. I had 176 yards to the pin on the last hole, and I hit a pitching wedge. I had 205 yards to go on the sixth. I just creamed my three-wood, which I hit about 270 yards, and I was just two yards on the green. But I just love playing links golf because you need to be so creative here,” said the 26-year-old.
Villegas said playing the practice round with Norman obviously helped.
“We talked about many things and links golf was one of them. He had some very good advice. And obviously, when someone like that tells you something, you’d better listen,” he added.
Villegas is not too overwhelmed that he is surrounded by players with years of experience on the leaderboard, nor by the fact that the weather is predicted to be at its worst today.
He said: “I’ll keep doing exactly what I’m doing, just have fun with it. Yes, it’s my first Open. Yes, it’s only my third year on the Tour, but I feel pretty good about myself. I feel pretty good about my game, and it’s going to be a good challenge for me.”