Golf-Masters-Villegas finally finding right balance at Augusta (Reuters)

By Larry Fine

AUGUSTA, Georgia, April 7 (Reuters) – Camilo Villegas felt
he was on track to finally finding the right balance at Augusta
National after firing a two-under-par 70 in the opening round
of the Masters on Thursday.

The 29-year-old Colombian, who has struggled early this
season, got off to a bumpy start with a bogey at the first
before posting three birdies in a row from the 13th to put his
name up on the leaderboard.

Villegas, whose best Masters finish is a tie for 13th in
2009, said he has learned from his four previous trips to
Augusta to keep his cool and exercise patience.

“It was good. I only hit it in one really bad spot today,
which was the right bunker on 10. Other than that, I just took
my medicine,” he said. “I played safe. I was kind of calm.”

The mistake at the 10th led to one of his three bogeys in
the round, but Villegas said he has learned how to cope.

Villegas has three top 10 finishes in major championships,
including a tie for eighth at last year’s PGA Championship.

“On this golf course, I learned some things. You still have
to have a good game out here, but experience helps a little
bit,” said Villegas, a three-times winner on the U.S. tour.

“It’s just a golf course that you got to respect, but you
can’t fear it,” he added. “You’ve got to know when to go and
when to back off.”

Villegas, who won last year’s Honda Classic and had six
other top-10 finishes, has been trying to incorporate changes
in his game and has been struggling this year.

“We’re always trying to get better, we’re always trying to
improve. We go through good times, bad times. Times where the
confidence is really high and times where the confidence is not
so good,” he said.

“You got to battle, you got to grind, you got to play the
course. And I think that’s kind of what I did today.”
(Editing by Frank Pingue; To query or comment on this story
email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)