Ames has best season ever

MIAMI: Trinidad and Tobago’s professional golfer Stephen Ames ended his best season on the PGA Tour with his maiden victory, US $3,303,205 million in earnings, and a World No 21 ranking. On Sunday, the 40-year-old Ames danced on the green after rolling in an 18-foot par putt on the final hole at The TOUR Championship at the East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, Georgia. He was celebrating the end of a season in which he finally fulfilled the rich potential he showed when he smashed the course record at Sandy Lane in Barbados with a six-under-par 66 in his Hoerman Cup debut at the age of 16 in 1980.

Ames, who has adopted the Canadian city of Calgary in Alberta as his home for the last 13 years, clinched a tie for fourth at East Lake and earned US $248,000 to finish eighth on this season’s money list. It was his 11th top-10 finish of the season that was highlighted by his victory at the Western Open last July when he shot a ten-under 274 to lead the pack. Finally, Ames can put to rest the indifference that has haunted him on the links. He harnessed his game and his self-confidence to demonstrate throughout the season that though he may have come from a country not in the world golf elite, he belonged. “Over my career, there are a lot of reasons I haven’t played well to the end (of tournaments),” Ames told reporters at the end of The TOUR Championship.

“One was physical and I’ve started working out to deal with this. Second, was the mental side, believing that I was good enough to be there, in this position I am now. That was the hardest thing.” Ames disclosed that he got tired of hearing people say that he was one of the best players without a PGA Tour win. “I’ve heard that for about six years,” he said. “The most difficult thing was figuring out how everybody could see that I was a talented player, but I couldn’t see it. That was the hardest part.
 
“The golf swing is always going to be an issue with me, and with everybody. I had to realise I wasn’t the only one with an imperfect swing and that it wasn’t necessary to be perfect. You just have to believe in the swing that you have.” Ames also had top-10 places in a few other categories on the Tour. He sank 74 of 386 par-three birdies to lead in this area, had the fourth highest number of top-10 finishes, and had the eighth-best scoring average of 70.08 per cent. He is in his native TT this week, where he will conduct coaching clinics for young golfers.