CAMILO VILLEGAS'S COMEBACK WAS SPARKED BY A CADDIE WHO LOVES TO COACH

Jose Luis Campra — his friends call him “Pepa” — grew up at the same course in Cordoba that produced Angel Cabrera and Eduardo Romero. He had aspirations of playing after getting a finance degree from Jacksonville State in Alabama...

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The road back for Camilo Villegas began with a detour to San Diego and a question to a caddie who wasn't even his: “When are you going to help me?” Villegas started what figured to be a challenging year in the Bahamas on the Korn Ferry Tour, and he meant to stay for a second tournament in the islands until he received a last-minute sponsor exemption to the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines. That's where he had a chance meeting with an Argentine caddie who is more than what he seems. For Villegas, a 41-year-old Colombian, it changed the course of his year.

Jose Luis Campra — his friends call him “Pepa” — grew up at the same course in Cordoba that produced Angel Cabrera and Eduardo Romero. He had aspirations of playing after getting a finance degree from Jacksonville State in Alabama. But then a few fruitless years on the Challenge Tour and PGA Tour Latinoamerica suggested he take a different path.

He always wanted to teach. Caddying helps pay the bills.

Campra runs an academy in Argentina. He has worked for Cabrera, Emiliano Grillo, Scott Piercy and now Sebastian Munoz. He has long been friends — nothing more — with Villegas and his brother, Manny. Latin American bonds are tight in golf. He was at Torrey Pines in January with Munoz, and that would have been the last chance to run into Villegas. It was the last PGA Tour event Munoz played before joining LIV Golf.