Stephen Ames has never had a week quite like this on the PGA Tour Champions.
He ranked first in the field in driving accuracy, first in greens in regulation and first in putting. It’s easy to see why the Canadian was able to walk away with a four-shot victory at the Mitsubishi Electric Classic at TPC Sugarloaf on Sunday.
It was the second win of the season for Ames, his second victory at the Mitsubishi Electric Classic and his first win with son Ryan as his caddy.
“There were a lot of special things that happened this week,” Ames said.
It was so easy that Ames was able to hit his tee shot on the final hole in the hay and, without even thinking about it, take a drop for an unplayable lie. After a layup and an average approach, he rolled in a long 30-footer to save par, finish with a 4-under 68 and set a tournament record at 19-under par.
“It was great. That’s the best I’ve ever seen him play,” said Ryan Ames, who has caddied for his dad a handful of times. “Every hole was a memory.”
Ames never strayed from his winning gameplan of fairways and greens. And he never staggered. He was 1 under on the first nine and led by three shots at the turn. A birdie at No. 10 expanded the lead to four shots and he never gave his pursuers an opportunity to apply any pressure. Not that he was aware; Ames said he didn’t watch the scoreboard and didn’t even see one until the 16th hole. He finished the week with only one bogey in 54 holes – a missed putt from a foot-and-a-half.
“This course is in some respects a ball-strikers golf course,” Ames said. “Your iron play has to be pretty, pretty good, getting on the right levels of the greens, the right side of putts. The main thing I was looking at all week was how many fairways and greens I hit all week.”
Ames said he played a similar game last week at the Insperity Invitational in Houston, but couldn’t make any putts. That wasn’t a problem this week as he needed only 91 putts all week to secure his fourth career senior victory.
Finishing second was Miguel Angel Jimenez, the 2014 Mitsubishi winner and perpetual fan favorite. Jimenez shot 68 and finished 15-under 201, a score that would have been enough to all but one of the previous nine tournaments.
Ken Tanigawa shot 71 and finished alone in third place at 13-under 203. Brett Quigley, who made a run and got as close as two shots, was fourth at 12-under 204 after a 69.
Warner Robins native Kris Blanks has no status on the tour and got into the tournament as a Monday qualifier. But thanks to his seventh-place finish, Blanks earned a spot in the next non-major event, the Principal Charity Classic in Des Moines, Iowa.
“I knew this was going to be my path, so I just kind of embraced it,” Blanks said. “Just kind of hoped that it was going to pay off at some point and this was the week. I’m super happy.”
Savannah’s Tim O’Neal, the 1997 Georgia Amateur champion, shot 8-under and tied for 10th, his best finish since qualifying for the tour this season.
“Just learning the courses. This was kind of a home game,” O’Neal said. “It’s been great. I got status in December and I’m just grinding away. These guys are so good. I’m just working on my short game every week to it sharpened up.”
The win moved Ames up to No. 4 on the Charles Schwab points list and pushed his season earnings to $729,414.
“It means a lot, the fact that I’m still winning out here at age 59,” said Ames, who made a celebratory FaceTime call to his parents. “To be able to compete against some of the great players, against a lot of Hall of Famers, that’s big to me. I’m keeping myself in shape and still practicing and still have a lot of drive and want to play well, which is good.”
Now the only uncertainty was how much of the winning $300,000 purse was going to the caddie. Ryan Ames said it had not been determined. His euphoric dad said, “You’ll have to ask his stepmon, Kelly. She’s the CFO.”
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