ESPN 2008 Open Championship

SOUTHPORT, England -- The golf world that wanted to promote him among the game's great young players has been waiting for a little substance to go along with his style.

Camilo Villegas has the looks, the clothing contract and the long-driving prowess, a good start on the way to popularity.

What he lacks is a victory of any kind on the PGA Tour.

Although it is way too early to start talking about winning the Open Championship, Villegas did show Friday why more than a few got excited about him two years ago when he joined the PGA Tour as a hotshot rookie.

Villegas birdied his last five holes at Royal Birkdale to shoot a 5-under-par 65 and rally from possibly missing the cut to moving into contention at the 137th British Open at 1-over-par. He is in third place and trails 36-hole leader K.J. Choi by 2 strokes and Greg Norman by 1.

It was the 26-year-old's best round in a major championship, and it came despite a bogey-bogey start.

"I obviously played unbelievable," said Villegas, who is in his third year on the tour. "I got off to a bad start, but I kept my composure after that. My caddie told me to keep battling, keep grinding. The back nine was obviously very special finishing with five birdies in a row."

Villegas developed something of a cult following after his tour debut in 2006. A native of Colombia, he turned pro in 2004 after starring at the University of Florida, then competed on the Nationwide Tour in 2005 despite no status. He began that season using Monday qualifying to get to play in events and had enough success early on to earn temporary member status. He went on to finish 13th on the money list and earn a promotion to the PGA Tour.

Runner-up finishes at the FBR Open and Doral in 2006 pushed Villegas to stardom, but he has been unable to break through and win on tour.

"I'm very impressed with his game," said Norman, the two-time Open champion who played a practice round at Royal Birkdale with Villegas on Tuesday. "I played with him in the Canadian Skins game about a month ago. He won that. His attitude and demeanor on the golf course is just great. He knows he's got a lot of pressure on himself, too, because he's a good player, he hasn't won a major. He's talked about it, he wants to be there, and he wants to win, no question. The finish was very, very good for him."

Villegas is bemused by some of the vagaries of links golf. Although he played in two British Amateurs (Royal County Down in Ireland, Royal Liverpool in England), this is his first Open Championship.

"It's so different than what we are used to," he said. "I mean, downwind, you can hit a driver that goes 370 yards and then you get into the wind and you're hitting a driver 230. On the sixth hole, I had 205 to the front, and I killed a 3-wood, perfect, and it pitched two yards on. My 3-wood normally carries 260. So it's a strong wind, a heavy atmosphere, and the ball really, really gets affected. It's very different."

Villegas' round was remarkable when you consider the struggles going on around him. He made eight birdies and played his last 15 holes in 8-under-par. He also improved his putting from 34 strokes in his opening-round 76 to 23 on Friday.

His birdie at the 18th was another example of what can happen on a links course in severe conditions. He was 176 yards from the pin, and needed only a pitching wedge. The ball came out hot, landed on the green and crashed into the pin, leaving him a 25-foot birdie putt.

"I told my caddie, I said, 'Listen, we just got a little lucky here and let's take advantage of this one and close it up,' " Villegas said. "And I rolled in a nice one."

The 65 was the best second-round score by any player in nine British Opens at Royal Birkdale and was two off the course record of 63 set by Jody Mudd in 1991. So far, no other player has gone lower than 67 in this year's tournament.

"I love playing here, I love the different conditions, I love the different shots, I love the fact that you have to use your imagination," Villegas said. "And again, hit all those funky or different style shots. I'm very excited to be here."

Villegas nearly did not make it to Royal Birkdale. He did not qualify for the Open but got in as an alternate because he was ranked 51st in the Official World Golf Ranking, not learning until last week that he would make the field. Villegas officially took Kenny Perry's spot when Perry made the controversial decision to skip the British Open because he wanted to keep his commitment to the opposite field tour event in Milwaukee.

Then again, this is a guy who comes from a country that has fewer than 50 golf courses. Medellin, the city where he grew up, had just four courses, one of them with just nine holes.

And you can bet they looked nothing like Royal Birkdale.

Bob Harig covers golf for ESPN.com. He can be reached at BobHarig@gmail.com.