Stephen Ames

Stephen Ames
Personal information
Full name Stephen Michael Ames
Born (1964-04-28) April 28, 1964
San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago
Height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight 185 lb (84 kg; 13.2 st)
Nationality  Trinidad and Tobago
 Canada
Residence Vancouver, British Columbia[1]
Spouse Jodi (2003–2016)[1]
Children Justin, Ryan[1]
Career
College College of Boca Raton
Turned professional 1987
Current tour(s) PGA Tour Champions
Former tour(s) PGA Tour
European Tour
Professional wins 12
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour 4
European Tour 2
Web.com Tour 1
PGA Tour Champions 1
Other 4
Best results in major championships
Masters Tournament T11: 2006
U.S. Open T9: 2004
The Open Championship T5: 1997
PGA Championship T9: 2004
Achievements and awards
Chaconia Medal (Gold) 2004
Canadian Golf
Hall of Fame		 2014

Stephen Michael Ames (born April 28, 1964) is a professional golfer formerly of the PGA Tour, who now plays on the PGA Tour Champions. The biggest win of his career was at The Players Championship in 2006. He holds dual citizenship of Trinidad and Tobago and Canada.

Early life

Ames was born in San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago and is of English/Trinidadian Portuguese descent,[2] and much of his family resides in the Caribbean nation. His grandmother was Trinidad and Tobago Champion twice. Ames grew up on Petrotrin's employee compound in Pointe-à-Pierre. He learned to play golf at Petrotrin's staff club, 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 set the course record at Sandy Lane, Barbados with a six-under-par total of 66.

Professional career

Ames won a golf scholarship at the College of Boca Raton in 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 Ben Hogan Pensacola Open) in 1991 on what was then 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 80 on the Order of Merit each time, with a best of 13th 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. Due to visa difficulties, Ames was unable to play the PGA Tour in 1999 for nearly six months.[3]

In his first six seasons he didn't break into the top 40 of the money list. He highest finish was runner-up to Craig Perks at the 2002 The Players Championship. In 2004 won for the first time on the PGA Tour at 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 20 in the Official World Golf Ranking.

In 2005, Ames initiated an international Ryder Cup style competition entitled the Stephen Ames Cup. The event pits CJGA Team Canada against Team Trinidad & Tobago. He co-hosts, with MP Jim Prentice, an annual charity golf tournament for kids[4] and owns a steakhouse in Calgary called the Vintage Chophouse.

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 largest amount a player can possibly lose by in an eighteen-hole match play event is 10 and 8. However, on March 26, Ames overcame the record defeat by taking 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.

At the 2007 PGA Championship, Ames was in the final pairing with Tiger Woods in the final round but put himself out of contention after shooting a 76, finishing T-12. In November 2007, he 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.[5]

Ames won for the fourth time on the PGA Tour in 2009, again at the Children's Miracle Network Classic, shooting a final round -8 64. He won in a three-way playoff over George McNeill and Justin Leonard.

Ames was inducted into the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame in August 2014.[6]

On April 16, 2017, Ames secured his first PGA Tour Champions victory, in his 49th start, at the Mitsubishi Electric Classic. He shot a 66 in the final round to finish four strokes ahead of Bernhard Langer. He is the third Canadian to win on the tour and the 11th golfer to win on the three main tours run by the PGA Tour: PGA Tour, PGA Tour Champions, and Web.com Tour.[7]

Personal life

He was awarded the Chaconia Medal (Gold), Trinidad & Tobago's second highest honour, in 2004. His Canadian wife is a former air hostess and he took Canadian citizenship in 2003.[8][9] They have two sons.

In 2006 Ames was awarded the Trinidad and Tobago First Citizens Sports Foundation Sportsman of the Year Award.[10]

Ames moved from Calgary to Vancouver in 2014 after separating from his wife.[1]

Professional wins (12)

PGA Tour wins (4)

Legend
Players championships (1)
Other PGA Tour events (3)
No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory		Runner(s)-up
1 Jul 4, 2004 Cialis Western Open −10 (67-73-64-70=274) 2 strokes United States Steve Lowery
2 Mar 26, 2006 The Players Championship −14 (71-66-70-67=274) 6 strokes South Africa Retief Goosen
3 Nov 4, 2007 Children's Miracle Network Classic −17 (70-63-70-68=271) 1 stroke South Africa Tim Clark
4 Nov 15, 2009 Children's Miracle Network Classic (2) −18 (69-70-71-64=270) Playoff United States Justin Leonard, United States George McNeill

PGA Tour playoff record (1–0)

No.YearTournamentOpponentsResult
1 2009 Children's Miracle Network Classic United States Justin Leonard, United States George McNeill Won with par on second extra hole
Leonard eliminated with par on first hole

European Tour wins (2)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory		Runner(s)-up
1 Apr 4, 1994 Open V33 Grand Lyon −6 (70-67-71-74=282) 2 strokes Sweden Gabriel Hjertstedt, Spain Pedro Linhart
2 May 19, 1996 Benson & Hedges International Open −5 (73-71-67-72=283) 1 stroke England Jon Robson

Nationwide Tour wins (1)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory		Runner-up
1 Apr 21, 1991 Ben Hogan Pensacola Open −12 (69-68-67=204) 1 stroke United States Jerry Foltz

Other wins (4)

PGA Tour Champions wins (1)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory		Runner-up
1 Apr 16, 2017 Mitsubishi Electric Classic −15 (67-68-66=201) 4 strokes Germany Bernhard Langer

Results in major championships

Tournament 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
Masters Tournament 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 2009 2010
Masters Tournament DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP T45 T11 T24 T25 T20 DNP
U.S. Open DNP DNP CUT DNP T9 T71 CUT T10 T58 T10 CUT
The Open Championship DNP DNP T69 DNP CUT CUT T41 CUT T7 CUT DNP
PGA Championship T30 DNP WD CUT T9 T72 T55 T12 CUT T24 CUT
Tournament 2010 2011 2012
Masters Tournament DNP DNP DNP
U.S. Open DNP DNP T68
The Open Championship DNP DNP CUT
PGA Championship DNP DNP DNP

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

Summary

Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts made
Masters Tournament 0 0 0 0 0 4 5 5
U.S. Open 0 0 0 0 3 3 10 7
The Open Championship 0 0 0 1 2 3 12 7
PGA Championship 0 0 0 0 1 3 10 6
Totals 0 0 0 1 6 13 37 25

Results in World Golf Championship events

Tournament20042005200620072008
Accenture Match Play Championship DNP R64 R64 QF R64
CA Championship T36 10 WD T28 T15
Bridgestone Invitational T22 T36 T18 T22 T48
Tournament20092010
Accenture Match Play Championship R32 R64
CA Championship T40 DNP
Bridgestone Invitational DNP DNP
HSBC Champions DNP DNP

DNP = Did not play
WD = withdrew
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = tied
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.
Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.

PGA Tour career summary

SeasonWinsEarnings ($)Rank
1998 0 357,869 83
1999 0 460,760 84
2000 0 747,312 63
2001 0 574,451 89
2002 0 1,278,037 46
2003 0 1,005,959 72
2004 1 3,303,205 19
2005 0 959,665 51
2006 1 2,395,155 43
2007 1 2,103,426 33
2008 0 2,285,707 27
2009 1 2,131,538 37
2010 0 916,527 107
2011 0 547,589 139
2012 0 193,686 187
2013 0 188,987 185
2014 0 141,143 194
2015 0 7,613 253
Career* 4 19,718,160 55

Summary of PGA Tour performances

* Complete through the 2014–15 season.

Team appearances

Amateur

Professional

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Thompson, Robert (August 6, 2015). "Shaw Charity Classic no longer a home game for Stephen Ames". Global News.
  2. ↑ "Distinguished Americans & Canadians of Portuguese Descent". Archived from the original on November 8, 2006. Retrieved 2008-01-09.
  3. ↑ After clearing customs, Ames takes aim at Buick
  4. ↑ Jim Prentice - Stephen Ames Charity Golf Tournament For Kids
  5. ↑ Official World Golf Ranking, Week 19, 11 May 2008
  6. ↑ Gilbertson, Wes (August 26, 2014). "Meet Stephen Ames: Canada's newest member of the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame". Calgary Sun.
  7. ↑ Mullen, Bryan (April 16, 2017). "Ames victorious at Mitsubishi Electric Classic". PGA Tour. Retrieved April 16, 2017.
  8. ↑ Stephen Ames to become a Canadian citizen
  9. ↑ "Trinidadian Stephen Ames named to Cda's Golf Hall of Fame". Share News. September 3, 2014.
  10. ↑ Stephen Ames named Sportsman of the Year 2006
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