Colombia did not win a gold medal at the recent Beijing Olympics, but the South American country has a PGA Tour winner at last.

Camilo Villegas, a 26-year-old who played his way onto tour via the University of Florida, displayed composure beyond his 26 years to win the US$7million BMW Championship on Sunday night.

Villegas, in his third season on the tour, did not surrender his lead over the final nine holes as he carded a two-under-par 68 at Bellerive.

He finished at 15-under 265, two strokes ahead of American Dudley Hart (65), with Anthony Kim (67) and Jim Furyk (70) another shot back in a tie for third.

On a day when Vijay Singh clinched a US$10million bonus for winning the FedEx Cup play-off series - as long he completes the Tour Championship finale - Villegas was too good for his rivals.

"It's been a crazy week with the weather, long days but you know what, I'll do everything it takes to win a tournament," said an emotional Villegas, who will now return home to Medellin to celebrate with his family.

"I'll be there tomorrow and I can't wait to see my friends and family. There's a big team behind me, my family, friends, all my sponsors.

"They motivate me to keep working, keep going, give it all, because it's a tough game and we're playing against the best players in the world.

"Golf has grown a lot (in Colombia) since I got on the PGA Tour. I've got a lot of support from the fans. They keep asking me when I'm going to win and I guess they've got it now."

Villegas claimed the key to his victory had been the way he responded to four-putting at the ninth hole during the third round.

"The four-putt wasn't the turning point," he said. "It was the birdie, birdie I came back with (at the next two holes). I had been putting so good all week and then I four-putt. It rattled me in a good way.

"I just kept my head up, came back with birdie, birdie and all of a sudden that four-putt was out of my head."

Meanwhile, Singh, who won the first two play-off events, cannot be overtaken in the play-off standings as long as he completes 72 holes at the Tour Championship.

And even if he somehow is disqualified and receives no points, he will take the title unless Villegas wins the tournament.

Villegas started the final round with a one-stroke lead over Furyk, but fell behind after six holes, before hitting the front again at the par-four ninth, which Furyk bogeyed.

If one hole was pivotal, it was the par-four 10th, where Furyk made another bogey. Villegas was also in danger of dropping a shot after hitting a weak first putt from the fringe, but he drained a downhill seven-footer to save par and increase his lead to two strokes.

Further birdies at 13 and 14 gave Villegas a nice cushion over the fast-finishing Hart, who birdied the final two holes.

Meanwhile, Fredrik Jacobson finished best European, six strokes back in a tie for 10th.

Sergio Garcia was equal 20th at five-under, while a tired Padraig Harrington tied for 55th at three-over.

"I didn't play well enough this week," said the Spaniard, who finished equal second behind Harrington at the USPGA last month.

He also lost a play-off to Vijay Singh at the Barclays Championship two weeks ago, and was in contention at last week's Deutsche Bank Championship before finishing equal fifth.

"It's been a tough run, a lot of weeks out there trying to win," he continued.

"The course was very wet, very heavy on our legs and I was a little tired towards the end of the week.

"I would love to have played a little better, scored a little better and putted a little better but fortunately I didn't. I'm looking forward to my rest."

Earlier on Sunday, 23 players returned to complete the third round, including Villegas, who had five holes left.

He picked up a birdie to take a one-stroke lead over Furyk into the final round.

Furyk, who finished his third round on Saturday, had the luxury of sleeping in, but that turned out to be not enough of an advantage as his experience proved no match for the youthful enthusiasm and talent of Villegas.

Furyk will be part of the American team for next week's Ryder Cup. Villegas, of course, will not, but for one day at least, he was the man.

Collated final round scores & totals in the USPGA Tour BMW Championship, Bellerive CC, St Louis, Missouri, United States of America

(USA unless stated, par 70):

265 Camilo Villegas (Col) 65 66 66 68

267 Dudley Hart 67 69 66 65

268 Anthony Kim 68 67 66 67, Jim Furyk 70 62 66 70

269 KJ Choi (Kor) 70 68 64 67, D.J. Trahan 71 63 68 67, Stephen Ames (Can) 68 69 66 66

270 Hunter Mahan 69 67 68 66, Tim Clark (Rsa) 67 68 66 69

271 Aaron Baddeley (Aus) 71 64 67 69, Steve Stricker 66 71 68 66, Fredrik Jacobson (Swe) 67 67 72 65

273 Trevor Immelman (Rsa) 69 67 70 67, Brian Gay 67 67 67 72, Lucas Glover 68 68 69 68, Ben Curtis 70 70 68 65

274 Phil Mickelson 68 65 71 70, Justin Leonard 69 67 68 70, Ernie Els (Rsa) 68 72 66 68

275 Sergio Garcia (Spa) 68 68 69 70, Tommy Armour III 71 64 69 71

276 Dean Wilson 69 71 66 70, Steve Marino 69 69 70 68, Eric Axley 70 69 70 67, Billy Mayfair 73 67 67 69, Angel Cabrera (Arg) 69 69 66 72, Kevin Streelman 70 68 69 69

277 Bart Bryant 69 68 69 71, Boo Weekley 71 65 71 70, Bubba Watson 73 73 66 65, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) 69 71 67 70, Scott Verplank 73 69 68 67

278 Ben Crane 70 70 69 69, J.B. Holmes 68 73 67 70, Ken Duke 70 72 67 69, Carl Pettersson (Swe) 72 70 70 66, Chez Reavie 67 70 75 66

279 Brian Davis (Eng) 75 67 72 65, Tim Herron 66 71 67 75, Robert Allenby (Aus) 71 68 68 72, Mathew Goggin (Aus) 70 71 67 71, Briny Baird 73 66 69 71, Stuart Appleby (Aus) 66 73 70 70

280 Kenny Perry 66 72 68 74, Vijay Singh (Fij) 70 70 71 69, Rory Sabbatini (Rsa) 72 66 67 75, Andres Romero (Arg) 66 70 73 71, Heath Slocum 71 73 70 66, Nicholas Thompson 70 73 70 67

281 Adam Scott (Aus) 69 71 69 72, John Senden (Aus) 69 73 73 66

282 Jay Williamson 68 69 72 73, Jonathan Byrd 71 68 71 72, Johnson Wagner 72 69 67 74

283 Martin Laird (Sco) 69 70 76 68, Kevin Sutherland 70 73 68 72, Brandt Snedeker 69 77 67 70, John Mallinger 71 65 75 72, Padraig Harrington (Irl) 69 71 72 71

284 Jerry Kelly 74 66 73 71, Charley Hoffman 68 71 68 77, John Merrick 76 74 65 69, Stewart Cink 73 70 71 70

285 Charlie Wi (Kor) 76 71 67 71, Woody Austin 69 71 73 72, Mark Wilson 69 75 71 70

287 Mike Weir (Can) 69 72 71 75, Ryuji Imada (Jpn) 72 70 72 73