Stephen Ames

Stephen Ames
— Golfer —
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	165 lb (75 kg; 11.8 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)	Champions Tour
Former tour(s)	PGA Tour European Tour
Professional wins	11
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour	4
European Tour	2
Web.com Tour	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 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,^[2] and much of his family resides in the Caribbean nation. His grandmother was Trinidad and Tobago Champion twice. 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 set the course record at Sandy Lane, Barbados with a six-under-par total of 66.

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 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 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. 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.

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.^[4]^[5] They have two sons.

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^[6] 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.

In 2006 Ames was awarded the Trinidad and Tobago First Citizens Sports Foundation Sportsman of the Year Award.^[7]

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.^[8]

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.^[9]

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

Professional wins (11)

PGA Tour wins (4)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	Jul 4, 2004	Cialis Western Open	−10 (67-73-64-70=274)	2 strokes	Steve Lowery
2	Mar 26, 2006	The Players Championship	−14 (71-66-70-67=274)	6 strokes	Retief Goosen
3	Nov 4, 2007	Children's Miracle Network Classic	−17 (70-63-70-68=271)	1 stroke	Tim Clark
4	Nov 15, 2009	Children's Miracle Network Classic (2)	−18 (69-70-71-64=270)	Playoff	Justin Leonard, George McNeill

PGA Tour playoff record (1–0)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponents	Result
1	2009	Children's Miracle Network Classic	Justin Leonard, George McNeill	Ames won with par on second extra hole Leonard was eliminated with par on first hole

European Tour wins (2)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	Apr 17, 1994	Open V33 Grand Lyon	−6 (70-67-71-74=282)	2 strokes	Gabriel Hjertstedt, Pedro Linhart
2	May 19, 1996	Benson & Hedges International Open	−5 (73-71-67-72=283)	1 stroke	Jon Robson

Nationwide Tour wins (1)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner-up
1	Apr 21, 1991	Ben Hogan Pensacola Open	−12 (69-68-67=204)	1 stroke	Jerry Foltz

Other wins (4)

1989 Trinidad and Tobago Open
2005 Telus Skins Game (unofficial event)
2006 LG Skins Game (unofficial event - PGA Tour)
2007 LG Skins Game (unofficial event - PGA Tour)

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

Most consecutive cuts made – 6 (1993 Open Championship – 2000 PGA)
Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (six times)

Results in World Golf Championship events

Tournament	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008
Accenture Match Play Championship	DNP	R64	R64	QF	R64
CA Championship	T36	10	WD	T28	T15
Bridgestone Invitational	T22	T36	T18	T22	T48

Tournament	2009	2010
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

Season	Wins	Earnings ($)	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

Starts – 394
Cuts made – 254
Wins – 4
2nd place finishes – 1
Top 3 finishes – 5
Top 10 finishes – 58
Top 25 finishes – 125

* Complete through the 2014–15 season.

Team appearances

Amateur

Eisenhower Trophy (representing Trinidad and Tobago): 1986

Professional

WGC-World Cup (representing Trinidad and Tobago): 2000, 2002, 2003, 2006

References

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

External links

Stephen Ames at the PGA Tour official site
Stephen Ames at the European Tour official site
Stephen Ames at the Official World Golf Ranking official site
Biography from the National Library and Information System of Trinidad and Tobago
Canadian Golf Hall of Fame biography

Players Championship champions

1974 Jack Nicklaus 1975 Al Geiberger 1976 Jack Nicklaus 1977 Mark Hayes 1978 Jack Nicklaus 1979 Lanny Wadkins 1980 Lee Trevino 1981 Raymond Floyd† 1982 Jerry Pate 1983 Hal Sutton 1984 Fred Couples 1985 Calvin Peete 1986 John Mahaffey 1987 Sandy Lyle† 1988 Mark McCumber 1989 Tom Kite 1990 Jodie Mudd 1991 Steve Elkington 1992 Davis Love III 1993 Nick Price 1994 Greg Norman 1995 Lee Janzen 1996 Fred Couples 1997 Steve Elkington 1998 Justin Leonard 1999 David Duval 2000 Hal Sutton 2001 Tiger Woods 2002 Craig Perks 2003 Davis Love III 2004 Adam Scott 2005 Fred Funk 2006 Stephen Ames 2007 Phil Mickelson 2008 Sergio García† 2009 Henrik Stenson 2010 Tim Clark 2011 K. J. Choi† 2012 Matt Kuchar 2013 Tiger Woods 2014 Martin Kaymer 2015 Rickie Fowler† 2016 Jason Day

† indicates the event was won in a playoff

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