Douglas Lowe on Tuesday: The conclusion to the FedEx Cup, supposedly the climax of the PGA Tour in the US, was nothing if not baffling.

The conclusion to the FedEx Cup, supposedly the climax of the PGA Tour in the US, was nothing if not baffling. While charismatic Colombian Camilo Villegas was busy at the business end of proceedings winning the Tour Championship against perennial fall guy Sergio Garcia, veteran Vijay Singh, who finished an hour before the tournament ended, was sneaking off into the sunset with the big trophy and the whopping $10m prize.

"We've got to have a more climactic finish," lamented Tim Finchem, the PGA Tour commissioner, who said there would be changes for next year, the third staging of the event in the year that will mark the introduction of the European Tour's riposte to the FedEx, the Race to Dubai.

The Race to Dubai and the final event of the season, the Dubai World Championship, will be worth $20m between them so with that pot up for grabs it is little wonder the European Tour's tournament players committee will be deliberating long and hard this evening on the issue of raising the minimum number of tournaments for members from the current 11.

There were few FedEx Cup problems last year when Tiger Woods was the inaugural winner and he did so winning the Tour Championship, the last of the four-event series.

This time Singh virtually wrapped it up after winning the first two events, the Barclays, at which he defeated the hapless Garcia in a play-off, and the Deutsche Bank.

It seemed incidental at the time that Villegas missed the cut at the Barclays by a single shot. The retrospective calculation, however, shows that in light of his victories in the second two events, the BMW Championship and the Tour Championship, Villegas would have won the FedEx Cup had he played all four rounds in the Barclays.

With all due respect to 45-year-old Singh who closed with a 70 and didn't have a round under par at East Lake, it would have been more exciting had 25-year-old Villegas been playing for the jackpot against 23-year-old Anthony Kim and 28-year-old Garcia along with that other older guy, Phil Mickelson, 38.

The four-way battle made compelling viewing before Villegas claimed the not-too-shabby tournament first prize of $1.26m plus $3m FedEx bonus for finishing No.2 behind Singh on the rankings while Garcia slunk off with his tail between his legs clutching a nice little comforter in $756,000 prize-money and a $2m FedEx bonus for finishing No.3.

Singh, incidentally, had his $10m topped up by $127,400 for finishing 22nd on Sunday.

In these days of the credit crunch it was inevitable that he would be asked, jokingly, for a loan. "Get in line," came the response, and you might imagine that the golfers' gravy train has hit a temporary red light with Wachovia, one of the PGA Tour's main sponsors, now in trouble.

In Villegas, who moved up 10 places to world No.7, we have another answer to the question posed in June: who will step into the breach while Woods is recovering from knee surgery?

In the major championships it was Padraig Harrington while in the charismatic stakes it is shaping up to be the young Colombian with the long, flowing locks.

In his formative days in South America, he played in competitions supported by the R&A, and is helping to raise awareness of golf in a football-mad nation. "It's all about soccer down there, and that's just the reality of it," said the University of Florida-educated player, "but golf in Colombia is growing slowly. We've got about 50 golf courses."

In the US his galleries include ever more young women and he has been rated by one magazine as the hottest bachelor in the US. Television audiences always surged when Woods was in contention and the PGA Tour will be hoping that Villegas can have a similar effect as figures are down by 36% in the four months he has been absent.

The battle to be European No.1 continues this week when current No.1 Harrington competes in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship over the Old Course at St Andrews, Carnoustie and Kingsbarns, with Lee Westwood hot on his tail.

Both are former winners of the Dunhill and with Westwood, runner-up to Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano in the British Masters at the Belfry on Sunday having closed the gap on Open and PGA champion Harrington to less than £180,000, he could be overtaken this week not just by Westwood but also by fellow Ryder Cup players Robert Karlsson, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Henrik Stenson and Graeme McDowell.

Garcia, who said he was going to take a rest, and Ian Poulter are the only two of Europe's defeated side not playing in Scotland this week. As the young Spaniard, who also lost down the stretch to Harrington in the PGA Championship, said: "There's always next year, I guess."