Ames now 31st in world golf rankings

LONDON: Trinidad and Tobago-born golfer Stephen Ames made another rise up the world rankings this week, moving up to an all-time high 31st after his top-10 finish at his latest outing in a major — the US Open in New York. On the strength of his ninth place finish at the US Open, the in-form Ames ascended three places from his 34th position last week to continue his amazing progress in the world rankings in recent months.

The 40-year-old Ames, now a Canadian citizen, started the year outside the top-100 but has surged more than 60 places up the list with eight top-10 finishes in his 16 tournament appearances so far this season and a remarkable six top-10 results in his last seven events.  American Tiger Woods remains the world number one ahead of Ernie Els, of South Africa, and Fiji’s Vijay Singh, while American Phil Mickelson moves up from fifth to fourth.

Ames, a seven-year veteran of the US PGA Tour, collected US$145,282 for his ninth place finish in New York that lifted him to year-to-date earnings of US$1.88 million. He is 12th on the PGA money list, which is being led by Mickelson at US$4.90 million, followed by Singh (US$4.71m),  Els (US$3.29m), and Woods (US$2.95m).