It has been nearly 20 years since Camilo Villegas tied for third at the 2006 Players Championship, his lone top-10 finish in 11 career appearances at TPC Sawgrass. The man has lived a lifetime since then, one full of birdies and bogeys he’s completely forgotten but also unimaginable circumstances that are impossible to erase from memory.

“To be honest, there’s not too many things I remember from 2006 except I finished third,” said Villegas, after shooting a six-under 66 on Thursday. “The golf course has changed, I’ve changed, and I guess I do have a lot more experience. I’ve gone through some good battles in life and good moments, bad moments. Back in 2006, I was just a young kid coming out of college, and I guess got nothing to lose.”

Then a 24-year-old fresh out of the University of Florida, Villegas was destined for big things. A four-time All-American, just the fourth Gator in school history to accomplish the feat, the man they dubbed Spider-Man for his unique green-reading method was off to a fast start in his PGA Tour career. At the end of 2008, he won his first two tour events at the BMW Championship and the Tour Championship, rising to No. 7 in the Official World Golf Ranking. He had two top-10s in majors that same year, too.

Over the course of the next 14 years Villegas only won two more times and finished in the top 10 of a major only once. But in 2020, Villegas suffered a much worse tragedy than an on-course slump, losing his 22-month-old daughter Mia to a battle with tumors in her brain and spine.

As painful and unimaginable as that was, the now 43-year-old has managed to turn Mia’s tragic passing into something good—a foundation called Mia’s Miracles that provides support to U.S. and Colombian families navigating similar medical crises with young children.

Mia inspired Villegas on the course, too. In 2023, he snapped a nine-year victory drought, winning the Butterfield Bermuda Championship by two strokes. He returned to the Masters the following April for the first time since 2015, tying for 35th. This week’s Players Championship is his first start in the PGA Tour’s flagship event since 2016. In Thursday’s first round, he grabbed a share of the lead, making eight birdies and two bogeys. It is the lowest round of his career on the tricky Pete Dye design, and the first time he has broken 70 on it since 2009.

“No, you’ve got to be cautious here. It’s a tricky golf course,” he said. “You’ve got to keep it in play. Aggressive, reckless can bring big numbers quick, and you’ve got to avoid those.”

Aside from two slip-ups at the par-5 second and the par-4 seventh, Villegas avoided danger all day. After hitting it poorly Monday and Tuesday during practice, a long phone session on Wednesday with his coach Jose Campra seemed to have flipped the script. Oddly enough, Campra was calling from Singapore, where he is caddying for LIV golfer and fellow Colombian Sebastian Munoz.

“Came out a little earlier today, tried to work on the same thing. [we talked about],” Villegas said. “I’m going to try to go hit balls for 15 minutes, try to keep that same feeling that we worked on yesterday, and come back tomorrow.”

The work involved Villegas realizing he was coming a bit too over the top on the down swing, leading to double-crosses. Despite a 12-hour time difference, he and Campra were able to re-center him.

“We worked for a couple hours. He’s a very, very hard worker,” he said. “Very few guys give more golf lessons than José Campra, and he’s always available for me, so it’s great.”

Main Image: Cliff Hawkins