Villegas, Palmer, Henry make an impact at the FBR

	Camilo Villegas is bringing plenty of sparkle to the PGA Tour. Harry How/Getty Images

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.-- Second-place sucks for Tiger Woods, so he says, but pretty much not for anybody else.

Camilo Villegas, Ryan Palmer and J.J. Henry were pretty pleased to be part of a five-way tie for second at the FBR Open behind star-in-the-making J.B. Holmes, a long hitter from Kentucky who pulled away to win by seven.

The finish means Villegas, one of the young unknown players I expect to have a breakout season this year, has a fighting chance to earn his PGA Tour card in 2006. Not only is he past the halfway point in the amount of money he needs to keep his card (he scored a $312,000 payday on Sunday), now he'll move up near the top of the class when the Q-school grads and Nationwide Tour grads get re-ordered after the Tucson stop at the end of this month. That should give him a few more tournament starts.

In fact, Villegas, a native of Colombia who starred at the University of Florida, might be at the top of the list of the guys you'd like to switch places with. He's 25, good-looking, lithe, has bulging biceps, pounds the ball, has a great smile and long, curly hair, charisma and a strong game. In short, he routinely rips it over 300 yards off the tee and is a total babe magnet on the golf course. Trust me, you want to be him.

And if you were Villegas, you'd probably wear the same outlandish clothes he's wearing- -- they're from the same company that outfits Jesper Parnevik. On Saturday, Villegas wore bright yellow slacks, a white shirt with white belt and white shoes. Early in the week, he wore a lavender shirt with bright blue slacks.

A middle-aged fat guy would look like a deranged Easter egg in that stuff, but when you're as slim as a soccer goalie, you can get away with anything.

Palmer was paired with Villegas in the FBR's third round and had this to say: "I feel like I hit it out there pretty good and Camilo hit it 20 yards by me all day. He drives the ball excellent and his iron play is steady. He attacks the golf course. I think he went at every pin."

I asked if Villegas had a posse of women fans in his gallery and Palmer laughed. "Oh, yeah, they were hollering at him all day."

Any comments about his neon banana-colored slacks?

"Yeah, about his rear end and, of course, the pants," Palmer said. "A couple of them kept saying, 'I love you.' He's a pretty boy out there."

David Toms also noticed Villegas and his bright outfit. "I kept looking at Villegas out there in those yellow pants, about 340 yards down the middle, right in front of me every hole," Toms said. "I said to Mark Calcavecchia, 'Man, that's the future of our Tour there. These young guys just bombing it out there. I wish I could do it.' "