Real Pronunciation of "Villegas"

In the BMW (I think) the announcers mentioned that Camillo prefers Vee-JAY-gas.

From the article cited by NBGC:

I never noticed that the announcers were pronouncing it "

I've been going with "Vee Jay Jay".

I know it's not even close but it's funny.














It is my understanding from those long ago high school Spanish classes that the correct pronunciation is "Vee....yay....gus". Okay....gimme a break, I was raised in the South.....

This is correct. I got to play with him in a pro-am when he was on the Nationwide Tour and this is how he pronounces it. Between the pro-am and the four rounds of the tournament that I followed him, he told me about 20 times unitl I was able to get it right.

Fixed it for ya'.

Cool, first hand information.

Here's the roster from when camilo's brother played here at UF. The pronunciation key is at the bottom.

In some spanish dialects, the v is pronounced like a very soft "b".

The Spanish language (at least the Chilean and other South American I've encountered) doesn't really distinguish much between pronouncing "B" and "V." To my American ear, either letter can make either sound. They tend to be pronounced the same way each time for the same word, though. On average, I suppose it's really somewhere in between the English B/V sound for both.

Hey guys, I am colombian, I guess I had to register in order to reply but I have been visiting this forum for a while just looking for info. and knowing about everyone's opinion. So i have other reasons as well.
Well, first of all I'd like to say we don't speak with any particular Spaniard accent. Spain's Spanish is really different from the Spanish spoken here in Colombia. In Spain the accent is really marked. Our Spanish is a bit more neutral. So well, there's the answer to the first question.

Now, about the real topic. Villegas.

The Vi would be pronounced as a V. But here in Colombia it is not really as important to say it as a V or B. it sounds like the same. There's almost no differentiation between V and B. And when you talk fast you normally use the B sound when saying a V so. . . it would sound more like a B.

Now. The lle is not jay nor yay. That makes the name sound like if a native English speaker was saying it (which is what is actually happening when an announcer says Camilo's name). The " lle " sounds like the the "je" in the word "jelly". It's very short and direct. Let's say it would be something like "jeh" using that Jelly example.

And gas. . . well. It sounds like gas! Just very subtle though. Not a GGGas but a gas.

So the actual pronunciation would be B-Jeh-gas (most used here) or V-Jeh-gas. (that would be phonetically correct but not as used).

I belive you are right.

LOL I was thinking of an example of how to pronounce the "lle" but you got it.

Ah, who cares, right? I mean, it's more important to have Korean golfers speak English during a Pro-Am than it is for television announcers to correctly pronounce the player's names.

A little OT, but did you mispronounce his name 20 times, ask him 20 times how to say it, or did he drill you until you got it right?