Congratulations to Camilo Villegas, surely the first since Gary Player to celebrate a PGA Tour win with 267 abdominal crunches and push-ups, one for every stroke in a runaway victory at the Honda Classic.

If he wants to get really crazy, the 28-year-old Colombian with the darn-near 28-inch waist will celebrate with an extra bottle of water and sneak in a bonus stalk of celery if nobody is looking.

While I can’t vouch for Villegas’ crunches-pushups-water-celery party schedule, I wouldn’t be too surprised. In addition to winning the Oscar for “Best Performance by Biceps in a Supporting Role,” the guy known for his Jean-Claude Van Damme physique hasn’t been mistaken for portly Mark Calcavecchia lately.

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Thing is, until the first three starts of the year, you almost wondered if Calc (or even JCVD) was the better golfer.

Cheap shot, yes, but until his scorching start to 2010 – third at the Match Play, eighth at Phoenix and a win this week – Villegas was a study in underachievement.

An All-American during all four of his years at Florida, Villegas came out of Gainesville with credentials and maybe too much swagger. After all, while his “Spiderman” crouch to read putts is entertaining and shows that Villegas hasn’t missed any yoga classes, it did open up Villegas to the cynic who might say:

Yo, He Who Reads Putts Like An Arachnid, guess Ben Crenshaw wasn’t limber enough to do your little move. Worked out OK for him, though. How’s about you MAKE a putt before you start fixing ball marks with your chin?

But that’s the cynic speaking. Not necessarily me. (Cough, cough …)

In our never-ending search for The Next Big Thing in golf – oh, hey, was that Anthony Kim I saw on the leaderboard this weekend? – we assigned great hope to a guy who the ladies thought looked great in white slacks. And when he finally won back-to-back FedEx playoff events in 2008, it appeared Villegas was more than just a pair of white slacks.

Golf, though, demands relentless consistency. Play great on a hole? Good, now march to the next tee box and do it again. Split a fairway? Good, now go pull an iron and see if you can hit the green. Hit the green and putt for birdie? Good, now march to the tee box and do it again … lather, rinse, repeat.

It was that last part that tripped up Villegas. Anywhere he went in 2009 was accompanied by a loud beeping sound, as it appeared he was only going backward at age 27. Not only did he not win, he crowned his year with an oh-fer at the Presidents Cup in San Francisco, going 0-4 on an international stage.

When he made his debut at the Match Play this year, not many eyes were on him. We’d moved on to Dustin Johnson, or Rory McIlroy, or everybody’s new “It” kid, Rickie Fowler.

Then Villegas beat one of those names, dusting Johnson 4 and 3. Hmm. And then, Villegas slew the match-play dragon, defending champ Geoff Ogilvy 2 and 1. Ben Crane and Retief Goosen went down. Next thing you know, Villegas had an epic match against Paul Casey and had it in the bag – until he missed the tiniest of putts that would have clinched the win in 23 holes. It was at dusk and they had to return early the next morning, and Villegas would surely be psychological toast – and he was, losing the next hole.

Surely, we wouldn’t hear from him again.

Or would we?

Villegas has done the equivalent of the weightlifter “Crab” move since, flexing those signature biceps. He crushed Sergio Garcia in the consolation match, opened with a 62 in Phoenix before finishing eighth and then pulled off a Gary Player-like bit of air travel before his win at the Honda.

Villegas flew from Phoenix to Miami and Miami to Bogota, presided over the first Nationwide Tour event in his native Colombia, did press conferences, dined with sponsors, did a junior clinic, played in the pro-am and then winged it back to South Florida for the Honda.

If you or I fly that much and do that much, we’re looking to hit the snooze button first thing upon touching down in the States.

Surely, we wouldn’t hear from him this week.

Or would we?

Next thing you, Villegas goes 66-66-67-68, easily the best four rounds stitched together by a guy who just got off a plane from Colombia.

Three starts, three great results. A win. An endeavor to promote golf in his home country. A flight schedule to rival George Clooney in “Up in the Air.”

And now, a No. 12 ranking in the world. I guess that’s what they call growing up.

Scorecard of the week

66-64-65 – 18-under 195, first place, Fred Couples, Champions Tour Toshiba Classic, Newport Beach Country Club.

Fred Couples isn’t doing this, is he? Is he really making us stay interested in the 50-plus circuit? He’s like Jeff Bridges in “Crazy Heart,” taking on all the 20-something A-listers and showing us how the graybeards get ‘er done.

So, here’s Freddy’s last six months: captain the U.S. team to a dominant Presidents Cup win, engage in best duel since Tiger Woods-Bob May when he tangled with Tom Watson in the Champions Tour opener in Hawaii, log two W’s and a runner-up in three starts and play nine rounds on the Champions Tour – with all nine in the 60s.

All the while, saunter through life with more charisma than one man should be allotted.

Note to self: In next life, come back as Fred Couples’ golf game.

Broadcast moment of the week

“Here’s Arnie’s grandson … ” – Dan Hicks, NBC. “Let’s see if he has the right stuff, like Grandpa … ” – Johnny Miller, NBC.

And it’s official. Sam Saunders has driven to the Florida DMV and had his name changed to “ARNOLD PALMER’S FREAKING GRANDSON, OK?”

Face it, you’re Arnie’s grandkid and you play golf, you’re going to hear it every … single … day.

If you wanted to escape Grandpa’s shadow, go play ice hockey. But if you’re going to tee it up, you’re A.G. – Arnie’s Grandson.

What was so amusing was, Hicks and Miller were hosting Jack Nicklaus in the booth when the talk came to Saunders.

Saunders, who doesn’t have a tour card, received a sponsor’s exemption to the Honda. It may or may not have been noted in the vetting process that he’s Arnold Palmer’s grandson.

Asked about Saunders’ predicament, Nicklaus hit it flush when he said that “Sam just needs to find out who Sam is,” an understanding comment from a guy who sired golfers named “Nicklaus.”

Talk about baggage. It’s like Einstein’s kid trying to go to a junior science fair.

So while Jack tried to emphasize that the name “Sam Saunders” is more important than “Arnie’s Grandson,” the camera cut to Saunders on the tee box, and the Hicks-Miller “Here’s Arnie’s Grandson!” double-dip.

I understand entirely why Hicks and Miller said as much. Surely, half the nation would be saying, “Who the heck is Sam Saunders and why am I watching him hit a golf shot?” Hicks and Miller were just doing their job, placing context, keeping the viewer informed.

But on the heels of Jack’s “Sam needs to just know who Sam is” comment, the juxtaposition of “Here’s Arnie’s grandkid!” pretty much summed up the kid’s lot in life.

His lot, by the way, wasn’t bad at the Honda. A disappointing final-round 73 obscured three 69s to start, and a tie-17th is a decent payday for a sponsor’s exemption.

Good luck, Arnie’s Grandson!

Mulligan of the week

They call that stretch of holes “The Bear Trap” at PGA National in Palm Beach. Nathan Green might want to call it “Drycleaner’s Remorse.”

At 17, Green’s tee shot found the muddy, wet edge of the par 3.

It was ugly, it was wet and did I mention it was muddy?

Once, twice, three times a wedge-in-the-mud … and Nate Green was on his way to a triple-bogey 6, although it was hard to read the scorecard through the mud splatter.

Coupled with his double on 15, a 77 brought Green a leaderboard tumble and a tie-12 finish after sniffing a top-5 all day.

Worse, his trousers got mud-splattered to the point of humiliation.

Try explaining that one to the local dry cleaner.

Green to Dry Cleaner: “So, I need you to give these trousers the turbo-treatment.” Dry Cleaner to Green: “What did you do? Whack a stick in the mud and just stand there?” Green: “Sort of. I made six at 17 on Sunday.”

So, in the name of clean pants … give that man a mulligan!

Where do they go from here?

We head to Doral for a World Golf Championship, where the whole Tiger “indefinite leave” thing takes on another chapter.

Tiger usually plays Doral, so his absence will mark four events in 2010 – Torrey Pines, Pebble Beach, Match Play and this – which he likely would have played.

Thing is, if tea leaves are to be read, our wait may not be much longer. Rumors abound – Hank Haney rented a house in Augusta; Tiger is sighted on the Isleworth range – that support this column’s long-held theory that Tiger will make Bay Hill and Arnie’s welcoming embrace his return to play.

I had waffled after watching his eat-crow apology, thinking that his uber-serious tone about fixing his life meant he would skip the Masters … but then Jack himself said he didn’t think Tiger would skip the Masters in 100 years, and it was like a splash of cold water in the face.

Of course. Of course he wouldn’t. Tiger will not skip the Masters.

Brian Murphy writes a weekly golf column for Yahoo! Sports. Send Brian a question or comment for potential use in a future column or webcast.