Remarkable Ames shoots up Top 50

NEW YORK: Trinidad and Tobago-born golf star Stephen Ames, enjoying the best form of his career, has earned his first top-50 world ranking following his season’s best third place finish at the Colonial Open in Texas on Sunday. In the latest world ratings released yesterday, history-making Ames was listed at 41st in the world, up nine places from the 52nd rating he has had for the past two weeks. On the strength of a remarkable six top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour so far this year, the Canada-based 40-year-old has climbed steadily up the world list in recent weeks.

American Tiger Woods remains the world number one, ahead of Fiji’s Vijay Singh and South Africa Ernie Els. Singh  is the PGA Tour money leader with US $4.4 million, followed by American Phil Mickelson (US $4.15m) and Woods (US$2.49m). Ames collected US $360,400 for his Colonial effort on Sunday and is now an all-time best 12th on the money list with US$1.55 million. He has had four consecutive top-10 finishes — seventh at the MCI Heritage, fourth at the Shell Houston, seventh at the HP Classic of New Orleans, and now third at the Colonial, which tops his previous season’s best fourth at the Shell Houston. In seven years on the US PGA Tour, Ames is yet to win a tournament but did place second at the rich PLAYERS Championship in 2002. His biggest international triumph came at the 1996 Benson and Hedges Open in Britain while he played on the European Tour in the mid 1990s.