Residence: Calgary, Alberta, Canada
DOB: 28/04/1964 |
Stephen grew up in Pointe-à-Pierre on the island of Trinidad and learned to play at the Petrotrin Pointe-à-Pierre Golf Club. Ames's golfing talent developed early in life, assisted by support and discipline from his father, Michael and his grandmother who was Trinidad and Tobago Champion on 2 occasions. In his Hoerman Cup debut at the age of 16 in 1980, he smashed the course record at Sandy Lane, Barbados with a 6-under total of 66.
Although he turned professional in 1987, he failed to make it onto the PGA Tour in the early years of his career so he decided to try his luck in Europe and Qualified through Q-School at the first time of asking. He had a successful 5 year spell on the European Tour with wins in the 1994 French Open and 1996 B&H International.
Spurred on by the success, he headed back to the US where he finally earned full PGA Tour playing privileges - but it was not until 2004 that he posted his first win on the US Tour - at the Cialis Western Open - which helped catapult him into the top 20 in the Official World Golf Rankings.
In 2005, Ames initiated an international Ryder Cup style competition entitled the Stephen Ames Cup. The event pits CJGA Team Canada against Team Trinidad & Tobago.
In February 2006, after provoking world No. 1 Tiger Woods with the comment: "Anything can happen, especially where Tiger's hitting the ball," Ames was soundly defeated by Woods at the 2006 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship at La Costa, losing 9 and 8, managing only to halve a single hole during the match. In 2006, he bagged another win by blowing away the strongest field in golf with a 5-under 67 in the final round at Sawgrass to win the Players Championship, becoming the second-oldest champion in championship history and taking his career earnings past the $10million mark.
Steven continued to achieve consistent results in 2008. Although without a win a series of high profile top-5 finishes (most notably at The Players Championship) he has won over $2million in prize money and finishing inside the top-20 on the PGA Tour money list. |