Camilo Villegas of Colombia plays his tee shot on the 16th hole during the first round of the Wyndham Championship at Sedgefield Country Club on Thursday in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Reuters/Greensboro, North Carolina

Camilo Villegas, refreshed after a quick trip back to his native Colombia, carded seven-under-par 63 to earn the lead after the first round at the Wyndham Championship on Thursday.

Villegas compiled an eagle and five birdies for a one-stroke edge over Americans Webb Simpson and William McGirt in delightful conditions on a mild summer’s day at Sedgefield.

“It was nice to go without any bogeys and I think it probably showed it was a consistent round,” Villegas told reporters.

“I kept it on the fairways, on the greens and just made the putts when I hit it close. My birdie putts weren’t even that long. I just hit the ball nicely.”

Villegas, 32, a three-time PGA Tour winner, was heavily promoted by the PGA Tour as the next big thing when he burst on tour in 2006.

But his career stalled as he battled minor injuries and loss of form and he fell to 148th on the rankings in 2012.

“Do I feel like I have played to my potential the last two-and-a-half years? No,” he said. “But it’s not everything about golf. You’ve got to be a little bit easy on yourself and just enjoy life. The game has been good to me. I have no complaints.

“Did I see (a 63) coming? Not really, but I felt good on the range this morning and just kept it going.”

A keen cyclist, he returned home last week to visit his parents in Medellin, where he enjoyed some strenuous rides around the mountainous terrain.

As well as Villegas played, he could not steal much local attention away from North Carolina-born Webb Simpson, the 2012 US Open champion who lives in nearby Charlotte.

Charlotte is also home to Martin Laird, though the Scot was born much further afield in Glasgow.

Laird has won three times on tour, most recently the Texas Open last year, but rather than using those successes as a springboard, he has regressed this season.

However, a return to coach Mark McCann six weeks ago has the 31-year-old hopeful he is back on the right track after missing all four majors this year.

“I’d been struggling with my ball-striking a little while, kind of searching,” Laird, who had been in sight of the early lead after shooting a five-under 65, told reporters.

“We started working on some things that we worked on in the past and with that little comfort factor knowing I played my best golf working with him in the past, we clicked and I started playing a little better and building the confidence week by week.”

 

Casey needs ‘win, win’ to earn Ryder Cup consideration

 

Briton Paul Casey acknowledges he is not on the radar screen for Ryder Cup selection right now, but winning the next two weeks on the PGA Tour would likely change that.

Casey, a three-time member of the European team, has won twice at Gleneagles in Scotland, which next month will host the biennial showdown between Europe and the US.

This would seem to make the former world number three an ideal candidate for selection, but the depth of European talent leaves him a long way down the current pecking order.

Casey instead is focusing on qualifying for the PGA Tour’s four-event playoff series, which starts next week.

He is on the bubble, 125th in the standings, with the top 125 after the Wyndham Championship on Sunday advancing to the lucrative playoffs.

An opening five-under-par 65 at Sedgefield on Thursday was a big step in the right direction.

“I’m not ruling myself out but I would have to do something exceptional to catch his eye,” Casey said, referring to European captain Paul McGinley, who will pick three players to go with nine automatic qualifiers.

“A win, win would catch his attention. I’ve played some good golf this season, but if I was captain I’d be looking at four guys right now, as the standings sit (for captain’s picks).

Those four, he said, were English compatriots Lee Westwood, Luke Donald and Ian Poulter and Scotland’s Stephen Gallagher.

Casey is enjoying life on and off the course again after struggling with injuries that derailed his ascent to the top of the rankings while a divorce was also a major distraction.

His new fiancee, British TV personality Pollyanna Woodward, is expecting their first child in a few weeks, and he recently was granted US permanent residency status after settling in Phoenix, Arizona, where he plans to stay.

“You get bored with the sunshine,” he joked.