Stephen Ames Wins His Third PGA Tour

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla.Canadian Stephen Ames has won the Children's Miracle Network Classic that took place at Disney and which he had played until the last hole, on Sunday.

Ames won his last PGA Tour 17 months ago, at The Players Championship last year, where he made a double bogey and still blew away the toughest field in golf by six shots at the TPC Sawgrass.

Despite a winless season, the Calgary resident already considered this year a success because he revamped his swing to eliminate nagging back issues. He twice contended in majors, when he was tied for the lead on the final day at Oakmont and played in the final group at Southern Hills.

One last trip to escape the chill of Alberta turned into so much more Sunday.

Ames ran off three straight birdies on the back nine at Disney, the last one a 4-iron that was close to perfect, then saved par from 65 feet away in a bunker on the closing hole for a one-shot victory in the Children's Miracle Network Classic.

"I came down here to work on my golf swing," Ames said. "Here I am winning an event, which is awesome."

Ames closed with a 4-under 68, and that bunker shot to three feet for par on the 18th hole at the Magnolia Course was enough to hold off hard-charging Tim Clark in the final PGA Tour event of the season.

Clark birdied six of his last 10 holes for a 66, the lowest score on the weekend of a tournament that no longer is a pushover.

"I didn't everything I could, and it wasn't enough," Clark said.

Ames won for the first time this year, and he had to work hard for it. Seven players were tied for the lead at some point in a final round filled with sunshine, and even a one-shot lead with three holes to play was no bargain.

"It was a grind coming down the stretch," Ames said. "The way I finished with three pars, I'm quite happy I did."

Ames, who grew up in Trinidad & Tobago and moved to Calgary 13 years ago, heads home to a winter of freezing temperatures, plenty of work in the gym and an earlier start to next year than he anticipated.

After previously hitting a bunker around 65 feet away from the hole, having Tim Clark only one shot behind him. However, he succeeded to blast out to three feet and make the par for a 4-under 68, coming to the end of an already successful season, since he already had a victory in the final PGA Tour of the year.

Verplank shared the 54-hole lead with Ames and was tied with four holes to play until he couldn't match Ames' birdie on the 15th and three-putted the 16th from about 70 feet. He shot 71 and tied for third with Tag Ridings (70) and Robert Gamez (68).

Ames earned 828,000 dollars for his third PGA Tour win and moved to 31st on the year-end money list, four spots ahead of Weir.

Kevin Stadler won the consolation prize, tying for 15th to move into the top 125. He finished the 124th.

Ames’ victory was said to be difficult to predict and along with Mike Weir's title in Arizona two weeks ago, they made the first couple of Canadians who won the PGA Tour in the same year since 50 years ago, when Al Balding and Stan Leonard accomplished the same thing.

Ames declared that his next destinatination is Maui, where he planned to go for his Christmas vacation, but now has one more reason to do so, referring to the winners-only Mercedes-Benz Championship that kicks off the PGA Tour season in January.