In the United States, Camilo Villegas has been voted one of People magazine's “hottest bachelors”, a clothes- horse with a penchant for figure-hugging trousers and tops. And yet there is far more to him than meets the eye.

At Royal Birkdale yesterday, the 26-year-old Colombian produced a round that left many shaking their heads in disbelief - a five-under-par 65 at the Open Championship that began with two bogeys and finished with five birdies on the trot. From flirting with missing the halfway cut, Villegas had flown up the leaderboard to one over par, within a stroke of Greg Norman, the leader.

While conditions were friendlier than the previous day, the course offered little cause for optimism. Yet as is the way with this infuriating game, Villegas found an answer to Royal Birkdale's many and varied challenges and suddenly could do no wrong. Eight birdies in all was an extraordinary return for his day's work.

Watching him, it is easy to understand the attention he commands. He is finely honed, has long hair protruding from beneath his cap and gives the ball a mighty thwack. But if there is one thing that sets him apart, it is a putting routine that has given him the moniker of Spider-Man.

In attempting to read the line of a putt, Villegas will crouch down low, resting on his hands, with eyes turned towards the hole and his left leg extended behind him. In good times it works perfectly, in bad it looks silly. Yesterday, he was in superhero mode: 23 putts is no mean feat. The day before he had had 34.

The product of a middle-class family from Colombia's coffee-growing region of Aburrá, Villegas has a mischievous sense of humour and a politician's nose for an awkward question. Invariably, as happened yesterday, he will be asked about his country's problems (drugs-running and insurgents, to name but two) and will side-step them like, well, Spider-Man.

“I love my country. It's a great, great place and I really miss it,” he said. “Just like every country, it has got it's problems. Fortunately, I've never been very directly involved with what goes on there. The game of golf has been growing in a very significant and nice way in my country and that's just one of my goals, to represent my country in the best way I can.”

Among his many impressive traits is a strong work ethic that is driving him to be the best he can. Like most young players, he considers himself good enough to be world No1 one day and plays with a fearlessness that will stand him in good stead. Like many top sportsmen, he also has some quirks of nature that bemuse.

In a magazine article last year, his younger brother, Manny, opened the door to a family secret, casting light on David Beckham-like obsessive behaviour. “He numbers his socks,” Manny said. “If he buys ten pairs of white socks, he'll number each sock one to ten because he wants the ones with the ones, the twos with the twos. He can't let a seven get mixed up with a three. He hangs his shirts in colour-co-ordinated rows, with the hangers in the same direction. When he cooks dinner, he has to clean the pan before he eats what he cooks. He's weird like that.”

In his third year on the PGA Tour in the US, Villegas has caught the imagination, and not only of the female hordes that follow his every step. He is yet to secure his maiden victory, but he has moved to No52 in the world and is tipped to go much higher. “He has all the shots. He reminds me of me,” Johnny Miller, the Open champion at Birkdale in 1976, said, with customary modesty. And indeed he does.

At Birkdale, Villegas played his second round as if he had been brought up on links courses. He twice played in the Amateur Championship - at Hoylake and Royal County Down - and has used the experience to good effect. “I love the different conditions, the different shots and the fact that you have to use your imagination and hit all those funky shots,” he said.

And how does he rate the weather? “If it's the same for everybody, who cares?” he said. “You've just got to grind it out.”