Ames was born in San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago and is of English and Portuguese descent,[4] 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 TourQualifying 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.[5]
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.
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.[9]
He was awarded the Chaconia Medal (Gold), Trinidad & Tobago's second highest honour, in 2004. In 2003, his Canadian wife was a former air hostess and he took Canadian citizenship.[13][14] They have two sons.
In 2006 Ames was awarded the Trinidad and Tobago First Citizens Sports Foundation Sportsman of the Year Award.[15]
Ames moved from Calgary to Vancouver in 2014 after separating from his wife.[1]
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.
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Retief Goosen is a South African professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour Champions. He has won two U.S. Opens, in 2001 and 2004, headed the European Tour Order of Merit in 2001 and 2002, and was in the top ten of the world rankings for over 250 weeks between 2001 and 2007. He was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame, class of 2019.
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This article summarizes the highlights of professional and amateur golf in the year 2006.
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† indicates the event was won in a playoff; 2020 cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
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Trinidad and Tobago (until Sep 2005)
Canada (since Oct 2005)
