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 and Portuguese descent, and much of his family resides in the Caribbean nation. His grandmother was Trinidad and Tobago Champion twice. Ames grew up on the Petrotrin employee compound (Then known as Trintoc) in Pointe-à-Pierre. He learned to play golf at Petrotrin's staff club, Pointe-à-Pierre Golf Club.
Ames' 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.
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 Ames 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 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.Official World Golf Ranking, Week 19, 11 May 2008
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.
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.
In June 2021, Ames came from behind and won his second PGA Tour Champions event at the Principal Charity Classic. He won four events on the 2023 PGA Tour Champions season.
Personal life In 2003, his Canadian wife was a former air hostess and he took Canadian citizenship. They have two sons.
Ames moved from Calgary to Vancouver in 2014 after separating from his wife.
Awards and honors
In 2004, Ames was awarded the Chaconia Medal (Gold), Trinidad & Tobago's second highest honour In 2006, Ames was awarded the Trinidad and Tobago First Citizens Sports Foundation Sportsman of the Year Award.
Professional wins (20) PGA Tour wins (4) LegendPlayers Championships (1)Other PGA Tour (3) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunner(s)-up1Jul 4, 2004Cialis Western Open−10 (67-73-64-70=274)2 strokes Steve Lowery2Mar 26, 2006The Players Championship−14 (71-66-70-67=274)6 strokes Retief Goosen3Nov 4, 2007Children's Miracle Network Classic−17 (70-63-70-68=271)1 stroke Tim Clark4Nov 15, 2009Children's Miracle Network Classic (2)−18 (69-70-71-64=270)Playoff Justin Leonard, George McNeill
PGA Tour playoff record (1–0) No.YearTournamentOpponentsResult12009Children's Miracle Network Classic Justin Leonard, George McNeillWon with par on second extra holeLeonard eliminated by par on first hole
European Tour wins (2) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunner(s)-up1Apr 4, 1994Open V33 Grand Lyon−6 (70-67-71-74=282)2 strokes Gabriel Hjertstedt, Pedro Linhart2May 19, 1996Benson & Hedges International Open−5 (73-71-67-72=283)1 stroke Jon Robson
Ben Hogan Tour wins (1) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunner-up1Apr 21, 1991Ben Hogan Pensacola Open−12 (69-68-67=204)1 stroke Jerry Foltz
Other wins (4) 1989 Trinidad and Tobago Open 2005 Telus Skins Game 2006 LG Skins Game 2007 LG Skins Game
PGA Tour Champions wins (9) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunner(s)-up1Apr 16, 2017Mitsubishi Electric Classic−15 (67-68-66=201)4 strokes Bernhard Langer2Jun 5, 2021Principal Charity Classic−15 (68-69-67=204)1 stroke Mike Weir3Feb 11, 2023Trophy Hassan II−9 (67-70-73=210)5 strokes Mark Hensby4May 7, 2023Mitsubishi Electric Classic (2)−19 (65-64-68=197)4 strokes Miguel Ángel Jiménez5Jun 4, 2023Principal Charity Classic (2)−17 (66-66-67=199)1 stroke Jerry Kelly, Steve Stricker6Aug 13, 2023Boeing Classic−19 (67-67-63=197)7 strokes Miguel Ángel Jiménez7Feb 18, 2024Chubb Classic−13 (67-64=131)3 strokes Rocco Mediate8Apr 28, 2024Mitsubishi Electric Classic (3)−14 (71-64-67=202)4 strokes Doug Barron, Paul Broadhurst9Aug 11, 2024Boeing Classic (2)−11 (71-67-67=205)1 stroke Steven Alker, Ernie Els, Robert Karlsson
Results in major championships Tournament1993199419951996199719981999Masters TournamentU.S. OpenT68The Open ChampionshipT51T56T5T24PGA Championship
Tournament2000200120022003200420052006200720082009Masters TournamentT45T11T24T25T20U.S. OpenCUTT9T71CUTT10T58T10The Open ChampionshipT69CUTCUTT41CUTT7CUTPGA ChampionshipT30WDCUTT9T72T55T12CUTT24 Tournament201020112012Masters TournamentU.S. OpenCUTT68The Open ChampionshipCUTPGA ChampionshipCUT
WD = Withdrew CUT = missed the halfway cut "T" indicates a tie for a place.
Summary Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts madeMasters Tournament 0 0 0 0 0 4 5 5U.S. Open 0 0 0 0 3 3 10 7The Open Championship 0 0 0 1 2 3 12 7PGA Championship 0 0 0 0 1 3 10 6Totals 0 0 0 1 6 13 37 25 Most consecutive cuts made – 6 (1993 Open Championship – 2000 PGA) Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (six times)
The Players Championship Wins (1) YearChampionship54 holesWinning scoreMarginRunner-up 2006 The Players Championship 1 shot lead −14 (71-66-70-67=274) 6 strokes Retief Goosen
Results timeline Tournament19981999200020012002200320042005200620072008200920102011The Players ChampionshipCUTT42CUT2T17T13CUT1CUT5T49T58CUT
CUT = missed the halfway cut "T" indicates a tie for a place.
Results in World Golf Championships Tournament2004200520062007200820092010Match PlayR64R64QFR64R32R64ChampionshipT3610WDT28T15T40InvitationalT22T36T18T22T48Champions
WD = withdrew QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play "T" = tied Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.
Results in senior major championships Results not in chronological order Tournament2014201520162017201820192020202120222023202420252026Senior PGA ChampionshipT15T44T21T38T35NTT342T15T29WDCUTThe TraditionT35T17T34T22NTT10T45T1113T5T11U.S. Senior OpenT38T24T7T31T6NTT8CUTT51T8CUTT44Senior Players ChampionshipT9T32T39T48T20T5T16T26T40T14Senior British Open ChampionshipT22T18T3T29NTT204T31CUT
CUT = missed the halfway cut WD = withdrew "T" indicates a tie for a place NT = no tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic
PGA Tour career summary SeasonWinsEarnings ($)Rank1998 0 357,869 831999 0 460,760 842000 0 747,312 632001 0 574,451 892002 0 1,278,037 462003 0 1,005,959 722004 1 3,303,205 192005 0 959,665 512006 1 2,395,155 432007 1 2,103,426 332008 0 2,285,707 272009 1 2,131,538 372010 0 916,527 1072011 0 547,589 1392012 0 193,686 1872013 0 188,987 1852014 0 141,143 1942015 0 7,613 253Career* 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
See also 1997 PGA Tour Qualifying School graduates
Notes
References
External links
Biography from the National Library and Information System of Trinidad and Tobago Canadian Golf Hall of Fame biography