Ames tees off at World Match Play

CARLSBAD: Trinidad and Tobago’s world-rated golfer Stephen Ames has been pitted against Australian Mark Hensby in the opening round of the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship that tees off today at the La Costa Resort and Spa. Ames, ranked at number 19 in the tournament, will play the 46th ranked, 33-year old player. Players in the tournament are divided into four brackets and are seeded through number one to 16th, with the highest ranked players pitted against the lowest ranked players in the tournament. In this format, world number one Vijay Singh, the highest-ranked player from the Official World Golf Ranking, will be the top seed in the Bobby Jones bracket and will play Japan’s Shingo Katayama, ranked 64th in the tournament.

World number two Tiger Woods, the second-ranked player in the world, will be the top seed in the Gary Player bracket, while Phil Mickelson and Retief Goosen will be the top seeds in the Snead and Hogan brackets, respectively. Woods will start his opening round against Nick Price, ranked 63rd in the tournament while Mickelson will face Loren Roberts. Should Woods win, he will return to the number one spot in the world. Ames will be hoping to jump start what has been a slow start to his 2005 campaign and rediscover the form he found last year, when he had a career year by finishing eighth on the PGA money list. The 40-year old player had 11 top-10 finishes and also recorded his first Tour victory when he won the Cialis Western Open.