Ames plays near flawless golf in Champions Tour win

Stephen Ames played near flawless golf en route to winning the Mitsubishi Electric Classic. The Canadian made just one bogey in 54 holes to earn his second victory of the season on PGA Tour Champions.

“Obviously it means a lot,” said Ames, who collected $300,000 for the win. “The fact that I'm still winning out here at age 59 now and still be able to compete against some of the great players out here on Tour obviously, a lot of Hall of Famers. Kudos to me keeping myself in shape and still practising and still have a lot of drive and want to play well. This is good.”

Ames' play was spectacular for three days. He missed just three greens and four fairways all week, a stat that would boggle the mind of almost any top player.

Perhaps the only stumble came on the final hole, when his tee shot went right and ended up in tall grass beside the fairway. Rather than risk chopping it out, he elected to take an unplayable and safely hit a second shot into the fairway on the par 5. He then launched his approach shot to a safe part of the green 30 feet away and finished his week in style by holing the long putt for par.

“I kind of lost my rhythm a little bit there,” said Ames, who had to wait 10 minutes to play his tee shot. “It went into the high bush, so I just took the unplayable considering I had five shots coming on the end. It was a bonus altogether, so I just played it smart, came home and made a nice little 30-footer on the last hole for par. It worked out.”

Ames’ victory came with his son, Ryan, caddying for him. He was a last-minute fill-in when the senior Ames got a call on Sunday that his regular caddie was unable to work. The younger Ames, who works as a PGA of Canada professional in Calgary, jumped on a plane and helped his father to the title, bringing with him some knowledge of his dad’s game.

“This week more he's understood it more with the yardage book more, the shape of the shots and all that kind of stuff, reading the greens,” said Ames. “He got that really well. He's become a good asset to the bag now. I'll call him in for relief when I need one next time.”

The win for Ames is the fourth of his career on the 50-and-over circuit, the most by a Canadian golfer. It equals the number of victories he logged on the regular PGA Tour.

Mike Weir, Dave Barr and Rod Spittle are the other Canadians to win on PGA Tour Champions, each with a single title.

He is also the second player on PGA Tour Champions to record multiple victories this season, joining David Toms who also has two wins. He has also moved into fourth spot on the Charles Schwab Cup season-long points race.