Stephen Ames

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Stephen Ames
Personal Information
Birth April 28, 1964 (1964-04-28) (age 44)
San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago
Height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight 165 lb (75 kg/11.8 st)
Nationality Flag of Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago
Flag of Canada Canada
Residence Calgary, Alberta, Canada
College Boca Raton
Career
Turned Pro 1987
Current tour PGA Tour (joined 1998)
Professional wins 10 (PGA Tour: 3, European Tour: 2, Nationwide Tour: 1, Other: 4)
Best Results in Major Championships
The Masters T11: 2006
U.S. Open T9: 2004
The Open Championship T5: 1997
PGA Championship T9: 2004

Stephen Michael Ames (born April 28, 1964) is a professional golfer on the PGA Tour holding dual citizenship of Trinidad and Tobago and Canada.

Ames was born in San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago and is of English/Trinidadian Portuguese descent,[1] and much of his family resides in the Caribbean nation. His grandmother was Trinidad and Tobago Champion 20 times. He grew up in Pointe-à-Pierre and learned to play at the Petrotrin Pointe-à-Pierre Golf Club.

Ames's golfing talent developed early in life, assisted by support and discipline from his father, Michael. In his Hoerman Cup debut at the age of 16 in 1980, he smashed the course record at Sandy Lane, Barbados with a six-under-par total of 66.

Contents

[edit] Professional career

Ames won a golf scholarship at Boca Raton, Florida in the United States and turned professional in 1987, but failed to win a PGA Tour card over the following few years, partly due to a neck injury. He won his first professional tournament in the United States (the Pensacola Open) in 1991 on the Ben Hogan Tour.

In 1992, Ames tried his luck at European Tour Qualifying School and was successful. He spent five seasons on the European Tour and performed consistently, making the top eighty on the Order of Merit each time, with a best of thirteenth in 1996. He won the 1994 Open V33 Grand Lyon in France and the 1996 Benson & Hedges International Open in England.

In 1997, Ames finished third at the PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament to earn exempt status for the 1998 season. In his first six seasons he performed solidly but didn't break into the top 40 of the money list. He found a new level in his game in 2004. Until this year his main claim to fame in the U.S. had been his runner-up placing to Craig Perks at the 2002 The Players Championship, however Stephen enjoyed his first PGA Tour victory in July 2004 winning the Cialis Western Open among a field that included many of the best professionals in the world, including Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh and Davis Love III. Later that year he reached the top twenty in the Official World Golf Rankings.

Despite these achievements, Ames has never received the "Sportsman of the Year" award in Trinidad and Tobago. He was, however, awarded the Chaconia Medal (Gold), the nation's second highest honour, in 2004. His Canadian wife is a former air hostess and he took Canadian citizenship in 2004.

In February 2006, after provoking world No. 1 Tiger Woods with the comment: "Anything can happen, especially where [Tiger's] hitting the ball," Ames was soundly defeated by Woods at the 2006 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship at La Costa, losing 9 and 8, the earliest a player can possibly lose in an eighteen-hole match play event. However, on March 26, Ames overcame the record defeat by taking the The Players Championship at the TPC at Sawgrass. Playing against 48 of the top 50 golfers in the world (including Woods), Ames emerged victorious, with a record-equaling six stroke margin over World No. 3 Retief Goosen, becoming the second-oldest champion in championship history. With the win, Ames surpassed the US$10 million career earnings barrier and climbed 37 places to 27th in the Official World Golf Ranking.

In November 2007, Ames picked up his third PGA Tour victory at the Children's Miracle Network Classic. He has featured in the top 25 of the Official World Golf Rankings.[2]

[edit] Professional wins (10)

[edit] PGA Tour wins (3)

No. Date Tournament Winning Score Margin of Victory Runner up
1. July 4, 2004 Cialis Western Open -10 (67-73-64-70=274) 2 strokes Flag of the United States Steve Lowery
2. March 26, 2006 The Players Championship -14 (71-66-70-67=274) 6 strokes Flag of South Africa Retief Goosen
3. November 4, 2007 Children's Miracle Network Classic -17 (70-63-70-68=271) 1 stroke Flag of South Africa Tim Clark

[edit] Nationwide Tour wins (1)

No. Date Tournament Winning Score Margin of Victory Runner up
1. April 21, 1991 Ben Hogan Pensacola Open -12 (69-68-67=204) 1 stroke Flag of the United States Jerry Foltz

[edit] European Tour wins (2)

No. Date Tournament Winning Score Margin of Victory Runner up(s)
1. April 17, 1994 Open V33 Grand Lyon -6 (70-67-71-74=282) 2 strokes Flag of Sweden Gabriel Hjertstedt, Flag of Spain Pedro Linhart
2. May 19, 1996 Benson & Hedges International Open -5 (73-71-67-72=283) 1 strokes Flag of England Jon Robson

[edit] Other wins (4)

[edit] Results in major championships

Tournament 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
The Masters DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
U.S. Open DNP DNP DNP DNP T68 DNP DNP
The Open Championship T51 DNP DNP T56 T5 T24 DNP
PGA Championship DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
Tournament 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
The Masters DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP T45 T11 T24 T25
U.S. Open DNP DNP CUT DNP T9 T71 CUT T10
The Open Championship DNP DNP T69 DNP CUT CUT T41 CUT
PGA Championship T30 DNP WD CUT T9 T72 T55 T12

DNP = Did not play
WD = Withdrew
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Yellow background for top-10

[edit] Trinidad & Tobago national team appearances

[edit] Amateur

[edit] Professional

[edit] References

  1. ^ Distinguished Americans & Canadians of Portuguese Descent. Retrieved on 2008-01-09.
  2. ^ Official World Golf Ranking, Week 19, 11 May 2008

[edit] External links