Who is Camilo Villegas' caddie? All you need to know about Luis Ruiz

Camilo Villegas is back at Augusta National Golf Club after an eight-season absence. His caddie Luis Ruiz has had the opportunity to witness firsthand the resurgence of Villegas' career.

Ruiz was born in 1986 in Mexico City. He played golf at the junior level and also on the U.S. collegiate circuits, as he earned a scholarship to Coastal Carolina University, from where he graduated with a degree in Finance.

A career as a professional player did not flourish for Luis Ruiz and this led him to the profession of caddie. He worked for several players before meeting Camilo Villegas on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2023.

This is what Ruiz told Golf Shot about his beginnings with Villegas:

"With Camilo [Villegas] I started working on the Korn Ferry Tour. His [previous] caddie had to renew his visa for the United States and I was unemployed."

"We worked one week and continued for the next week... and the next week and after that he got an exemption to play in Mexico [the World Wide Technology Championship in Los Cabos] and in Bermuda [the Butterfield Bermuda Championship], he also invited me to those two tournaments."

Camilo Villegas had been unstable on the PGA Tour for several seasons, but was on his way to restructuring his game. With Luis Ruiz looking after his bag, the Colombian finished tied for second at the 2023 World Wide Technology Championship and a week later won the 2023 Butterfield Bermuda Championship to regain his PGA Tour card.

His victory in Bermuda also opened the doors to the Masters Tournament in 2024 for Camilo Villegas. Thanks to this, Luis Ruiz was the second Mexican to be present at Augusta National, along with Santiago de la Fuente, the Latin America Amateur Champion.

---

A look at Camilo Villegas' performance at the Masters 2024

Camilo Villegas has managed to overcome the demands of Augusta National Golf Club to stay in contention despite the problems with his game. His first round ended with a score of 2 over, with four birdies, four bogeys and a double bogey.

The second round was no less complicated. Villegas had two birdies, three bogeys, and a double bogey to set his 36-hole score at 5 over. Nevertheless, he made the cut by one stroke and managed to play the weekend for the fourth time in his career.

During the moving day, Villegas has maintained a similar performance to the previous two rounds. By the 15th hole, he had two birdies, two bogeys, and a double bogey.

This is the seventh time Villegas has played in the Masters Tournament. In the six previous editions, he has passed three cuts, with a T13 (2009) as his best result.