Camilo Villegas

It's hard to believe it was more than a decade ago that the dashing Colombian burst upon the PGA Tour with two wins during the 2008 FedEx Cup playoffs (including the Tour Championship) and more than $4 million in earnings. But Villegas is now a lot older, 36, and at least a little less dashing. He played in only 14 tournaments last season, and he's missed almost 75 percent of his cuts the last four seasons. But don't cry for Villegas, Argentina. He's banked more than $25 million in worldwide earnings and could continue to play under the Past Champions status. He just doesn't have any fantasy value.

Early in his career, it appeared as though Villegas could be a major factor on the PGA Tour for years to come and after a couple very strong seasons in 2008 and 2010, he was on his way, but something changed after that 2010 season and he hasn't been the same golfer since. Villegas has had some decent seasons during that span, but for the most part, he's been underwhelming. His finish inside the top-100 was mostly due to a runner-up showing in the fall as he had only one top-10 during the 2017 portion of the season. Villegas doesn't appear to have that extra gear anymore and as such, he's not a good salary cap selection this season.

Villegas has been all over the map in his nine years on the PGA Tour. He came onto the tour with a lot of hype and early-on, seemed to embrace it. 2008 was the peak of his professional career as he won twice and topped the $4 million mark. He was able to maintain a fairly-high level of success in the years that followed, but the wheels came off in 2012 when he failed to crack $500k in earnings. Another subpar season followed in 2013, but he got back on track in 2014. The question now is -- which way does he go? Villegas is one of the more difficult players to peg this season as his ceiling is much higher than his 2014 number, yet there's no way to tell if he's all the way back. He appears to be a pretty good salary cap option this season and should go in the 7th round in draft leagues.

Villegas has been just about everywhere in his short career. From "the next big thing", to "underperformer", to "grinder", where he is now. A grinder because he's fighting to stay on the PGA Tour and succeeding. At this point, it doesn't look like he'll get to the next level on the PGA Tour, but he's still capable of threatening the $2 million mark -- if everything goes well. Unfortunately, you can't count on that, so he's probably not worth a selection in salary cap leagues. In draft leagues he should go in the 100-110 range.

Villegas missed out on the top 125, so he's not fully exempt this season, but since he remained inside the top 150 he'll have conditional status, which will get him into some events this year. In addition, he's sure to receive sponsor's exemptions because of his popularity, so he will get an opportunity to succeed this season. Can he get anything done? He's been off his game for a few years now and needs to turn it around quickly. Whether he gets all the way back to his old form or just partially back, he's probably worth the risk at his price in salary cap leagues. In draft leagues, he'll probably be available late because of his status.

While Villegas' potential has been tapped already, he certainly didn't look the part of an up-and-comer last season, at least not early on. The first seven months of the 2011 season were downright abysmal for Villegas. He was coming off a $3 million season, and by August he had exactly one Top-25 on his resume. He somehow turned it all around by season's end, though, and made a fantastic run through the FedEx Playoffs. But as a whole, the season was a complete disaster. Villegas' misfortune is our gain, however, as his price in salary cap leagues likely will be too good to pass on. Villegas is almost guaranteed to return to more than $2 million this season, and as such he's a must in salary cap leagues. In draft leagues, he should go somewhere around the fourth round.

Villegas was expected to take off after winning twice in 2008, but he fell back to earth in 2009. He recovered well in 2010, but he's still not quite to the level that most expect. Although Villegas is always a threat to earn plenty of money, his stats last season were brutal, which doesn't make him a good pick for rotisserie leagues. It's a wonder how he finished as well as he did on the 2010 money list. Villegas ranked no higher than 77th in any major statistic, finishing lower than 125th in driving accuracy, GIR and putting last season. That tells us there's room for improvement, and any improvement should result greater earnings in 2011.

At times, Villegas' game seems to be much more style than substance. Villegas has plenty of talent, but it's difficult for some players to live up to the intense hype. With that being said, Villegas is still a good value pick in this spot; however, fantasy owners should not expect him to outproduce his draft slot. Villegas, who finished 2008 being ranked at seventh, slipped to 23rd in the final 2009 Official World Golf Rankings.

Villegas had his breakthrough year in 2008 and it appears better things are in store. He's very talented, but he set the bar pretty high with his earnings last year and many players on the PGA Tour have regressed after their breakthrough year. The safe play is to pass on Villegas at this number. In draft leagues Villegas should go late first round in deeper leagues and early second in others.

Camillo Villegas had an important breakthrough last year, he learned to play outside the state of Florida. In fact, he played extremely well during the entire Fed Ex Cup, which is a good sign for the upcoming season. Villegas' upside is through the roof. If he can get off to a good start in 2008, he could crush his numbers from 2007. Villegas is a good third-round sleeper in draft leagues, and a very solid pick in salary cap leagues.

Perhaps the most hyped rookie of 2006. Perhaps over-hyped. Villegas got off to a great start in 2006, but could not maintain a high level of play throughout the year. Villegas had four top-5s last year, but three came in the first three months of the year. It's too early to tell whether Villegas is simply an early season player or if he just hit a slump at year's end. The safe bet would be to not put too much faith in him for 2007 until it's clear what the deal is.