Stephen Michael Ames (born April 28, 1964) is a

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

formerly of the

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also known as the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Champion ...

, who now plays on the

PGA Tour Champions PGA Tour Champions (formerly the Senior PGA Tour and the Champions Tour) is a men's professional senior golf tour, open to golfers age 50 and over, administered as a branch of the PGA Tour. History and format The Senior PGA Championship, f ...

. The biggest win of his career was at

The Players Championship The Players Championship (commonly known as simply The Players, stylized by the PGA Tour as THE PLAYERS Championship) is an annual golf tournament on the PGA Tour. Originally known as the Tournament Players Championship, it began in 1974. The ...

in 2006. He holds

dual citizenship Multiple citizenship (or multiple nationality) is a person's legal status in which a person is at the same time recognized by more than one sovereign state, country under its nationality law, nationality and citizenship law as a national or cit ...

of Trinidad and Tobago and Canada.

Early life

Ames was born in

San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago San Fernando, officially the City of San Fernando, is the most populous city and second most populous municipality in Trinidad and Tobago, after Chaguanas. Sando, as it is known to many local Trinidadians, occupies 19 km2 and is located in t ...

and is of English and Portuguese descent, and much of his family resides in the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

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 Pointe-à-Pierre ( ) is a town in Trinidad and Tobago. It lies north of San Fernando and south of Claxton Bay. It is most famous as the site of the country's largest (and now, only) oil refinery which used to be run by Petrotrin, the state-ow ...

. 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 Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

with a six-under-par total of 66.

Professional career

Ames won a golf scholarship at the

College of Boca Raton Lynn University is a private university in Boca Raton, Florida, United States. Founded in 1962, the university awards associate, baccalaureate, master's, and doctoral degrees. It is named for the Lynn family (Christine E. and Eugene M. Lynn). ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

in the United States and turned professional in 1987, but failed to win a

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 The Korn Ferry Tour is the developmental tour for the U.S.-based PGA Tour, and features professional golfers who have either not yet reached the PGA Tour, or who have done so but then failed to win enough FedEx Cup points to stay at that level. T ...

. In 1992, Ames tried his luck at

European Tour The European Tour, currently titled as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons, and legally the PGA European Tour or the European Tour Group, is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European ...

Qualifying School In professional golf, the term qualifying school is used for the annual qualifying tournaments for leading golf tours such as the U.S.-based PGA and LPGA Tours and the European Tour. A fixed number of players in the event win membership of the ...

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 France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and the 1996 Benson & Hedges International Open in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. 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. In his first six seasons he didn't break into the top 40 of the money list. He highest finish was runner-up to Craig Perks at the 2002

. In 2004 Ames won for the first time on the PGA Tour at the Cialis Western Open among a field that included many of the best professionals in the world, including

Tiger Woods Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in List of golfers with most PGA Tour wins, PGA Tour wins, ranks second in List of men's major championships winning golfers, men's m ...

Vijay Singh Vijay Singh ( ; born 22 February 1963) is a Fijians, Fijian professional golfer. In 1982, Singh turned professional and played on the local Asia Golf Circuit. However, his early career met with controversy, as he was accused of numerous rules ...

and

Davis Love III Davis Milton Love III (born April 13, 1964) is an American professional golfer who has won 21 events on the PGA Tour, including one major championship: the 1997 PGA Championship. He won the Players Championship in 1992 and 2003. He was in th ...

. Later that year, he reached the top 20 in the

Official World Golf Ranking The Official World Golf Ranking is a system for rating the performance level of professional golfers. It was started in 1986. The rankings are based on a player's position in individual tournaments (i.e. not pairs or team events) over a "rolling ...

. In 2005, Ames initiated an international Ryder Cup style competition entitled th
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 and owns a steakhouse in Calgary called the Vintage Chophouse. In February 2006, after provoking world No. 1

with the comment: "Anything can happen, especially where iger'shitting the ball," Ames was soundly defeated by Woods at the

2006 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship The 2006 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship was a golf tournament that was played from February 22–26, 2006 at La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, California. It was the eighth WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship and the first of four ...

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

at the

TPC at Sawgrass The Tournament Players Club Sawgrass (TPC Sawgrass) is a golf course in the southeastern United States, located in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, southeast of Jacksonville, Florida, Jacksonville. The course opened in the autumn of 1980 and was the ...

. 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 Retief Goosen (born 3 February 1969) 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 t ...

, 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

. At the

2007 PGA Championship The 2007 PGA Championship was the 89th PGA Championship, played August 9–12 at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Defending champion Tiger Woods won his fourth PGA Championship and 13th major title, two strokes ahead of runner-up ...

, Ames was in the final pairing with Tiger Woods in the final round but put himself out of contention after shooting a 76, finishing T-12. In November 2007, he picked up his third PGA Tour victory at the Children's Miracle Network Classic. He has featured in the top 25 of the

Official World Golf Rankings The Official World Golf Ranking is a system for rating the performance level of professional golfers. It was started in 1986. The rankings are based on a player's position in individual tournaments (i.e. not pairs or team events) over a "rolling ...

. Ames won for the fourth time on the PGA Tour in 2009, again at the Children's Miracle Network Classic, shooting a final round -8 64. He won in a three-way playoff over George McNeill and

Justin Leonard Justin Charles Garrett Leonard (born June 15, 1972) is an American professional golfer. He has 12 career wins on the PGA Tour, including one major, the 1997 Open Championship. He currently plays on the PGA Tour Champions. He is one of only five ...

. Ames was inducted into the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame in August 2014. On April 16, 2017, Ames secured his first

victory, in his 49th start, at the

Mitsubishi Electric Classic The Mitsubishi Electric Classic is a golf tournament on the PGA Tour Champions in Georgia in the greater Atlanta area. It debuted in 2013 as the "Greater Gwinnett Championship," and has been played each year at TPC Sugarloaf in Duluth, a northeas ...

. He shot a 66 in the final round to finish four strokes ahead of

Bernhard Langer Bernhard Langer (; born 27 August 1957) is a German professional golfer. He is a two-time Masters champion and was one of the world's leading golfers throughout the 1980s and 1990s. In 1986, he became the sport's first number one ranked playe ...

. 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 The Korn Ferry Tour is the developmental tour for the U.S.-based PGA Tour, and features professional golfers who have either not yet reached the PGA Tour, or who have done so but then failed to win enough FedEx Cup points to stay at that level. T ...

In June 2021, Ames came from behind and won his second

event at the

Principal Charity Classic The Principal Charity Classic is an annual PGA Tour Champions golf tournament in Des Moines, Iowa. It has been held at the William Langford-designed Wakonda Club since 2013. Founded in 2001 as the Allianz Championship, that name has been used by ...

. He won four events on the

2023 PGA Tour Champions season The 2023 PGA Tour Champions season was the 43rd season of PGA Tour Champions (formerly the Senior PGA Tour and the Champions Tour), the main professional golf tour in the United States for men aged 50 and over. Schedule The following table list ...

Personal life

In 2003, his Canadian wife was a former

air hostess A flight attendant is a member of the aircrew whose primary responsibility is ensure the safety of passengers in the cabin of an aircraft across all stages of flight. Their secondary duty is to see to the comfort of passengers. Flight attenda ...

and he took Canadian citizenship. They have two sons. Ames moved from Calgary to

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

in 2014 after separating from his wife.

Awards and honors

* In 2004, Ames was awarded the

Chaconia Medal The Chaconia Medal (abbreviated C.M. or CM) is the second highest state decoration A state decoration is an object, such as a medal or the insignia of an Order (distinction), order, that is awarded by a sovereign state to honor the recipient. T ...

(Gold), Trinidad & Tobago's second highest honour * In 2006, Ames was awarded the Trinidad and Tobago First Citizens Sports Foundation Sportsman of the Year Award.

Professional wins (20)

PGA Tour wins (4)

PGA Tour playoff record (1–0)

European Tour wins (2)

Ben Hogan Tour wins (1)

Other wins (4)

*1989 Trinidad and Tobago Open *2005 Telus Skins Game *2006 LG Skins Game *2007 LG Skins Game

PGA Tour Champions wins (9)

''*Note: The 2024 Chubb Classic was shortened to 36 holes due to weather.''

Results in major championships

WD = Withdrew
CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place.

Summary

*Most consecutive cuts made – 6 (1993 Open Championship – 2000 PGA) *Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (six times)

The Players Championship

Wins (1)

Results timeline

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place.

Results in World Golf Championships

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.

Results in senior major championships

''Results not in chronological order'' CUT = missed the halfway cut
WD = withdrew
"T" indicates a tie for a place
NT = no tournament due to

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

PGA Tour career summary

Summary of PGA Tour performances

* Starts – 394 * Cuts made – 254 * Wins – 4 * 2nd place finishes – 1 * Top 3 finishes – 5 * Top 10 finishes – 58 * Top 25 finishes – 125 ''* Complete through the 2014–15 season.''

Team appearances

Amateur *

Eisenhower Trophy The Eisenhower Trophy (World Men's Amateur Team Championships) is the biennial World Amateur Team Championship for men organized by the International Golf Federation. Since the tournament was first played in 1958 Eisenhower Trophy, 1958, it is nam ...

(representing Trinidad and Tobago):

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

Professional *

WGC-World Cup The World Cup of Golf is a men's golf tournament contested by teams of two representing their country. Only one team is allowed from each country. The players are selected on the basis of the Official World Golf Ranking, although not all of the fir ...

(representing Trinidad and Tobago):

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

References

External links

* * *
Biography
from the National Library and Information System of Trinidad and Tobago
Canadian Golf Hall of Fame biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ames, Stephen Trinidad and Tobago male golfers Canadian male golfers PGA Tour golfers European Tour golfers PGA Tour Champions golfers Lynn Fighting Knights men's golfers Golfing people from British Columbia Recipients of the Chaconia Medal Sportspeople from San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago Golfers from Calgary Golfers from Boca Raton, Florida Golfers from Vancouver Trinidad and Tobago emigrants to Canada Canadian people of Portuguese descent Sportspeople of Portuguese descent Trinidad and Tobago people of Portuguese descent Canadian people of English descent 1964 births Living people 20th-century Canadian sportsmen

Early life

Professional career

Personal life

Awards and honors

Professional wins (20)

PGA Tour wins (4)

European Tour wins (2)

Ben Hogan Tour wins (1)

Other wins (4)

PGA Tour Champions wins (9)

Results in major championships

Summary

The Players Championship

Wins (1)

Results timeline

Results in World Golf Championships

Results in senior major championships

PGA Tour career summary

Summary of PGA Tour performances

Team appearances

See also

References

External links