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| March 28, 2006 | Tuesday | Safar 27, 1427 |
Ames chalks up six-shot triumph
PONTE VEDRA BEACH (Florida), March 27: Canada’s Stephen Ames, ice-cool in difficult final-round conditions, cruised to his second PGA Tour title with a six-shot victory at the Players Championship on Sunday.
Despite lightning-fast greens and thick rough at the Stadium Course, the 41-year-old born in Trinidad and Tobago held off some of the biggest names in golf with a five-under-par 67.
Although Ames made a rare slip-up by double-bogeying the par-four 10th, he reeled off five birdies and an eagle-three at the 16th to finish on 14-under 274.
After narrowly missing a 24-footer for birdie at the last, he tapped in for par and raised his arms in celebration as he secured the winner’s cheque for $1.44 million, the richest purse on the PGA Tour.
World number three Retief Goosen, four strokes behind overnight, finished second after sinking a 12-foot birdie putt on the final hole for a 69.
Americans Jim Furyk (72) and Pat Perez (71), Swede Henrik Stenson (73) and PGA Tour rookie Camilo Villegas of Colombia (71) tied for third at five under.
World number two Vijay Singh and sixth-ranked Sergio Garcia had been tied for second place at the start of the day but the duo dropped back over the opening holes.
Ernie Els made the most significant early run with five birdies in the first 11 holes. However, the big South African then lost ground before carding a 71 to end level with Singh.
Tiger Woods, never a factor at Sawgrass after considering pulling out because of his father’s failing health, returned a three-over-par 75 to finish at one-over 289.
Leading final round scores:
274 — Stephen Ames (Canada) 71, 66, 70, 67.
280 — Retief Goosen (South Africa) 69, 71, 71, 69.
283 — Pat Perez (US) 71, 72, 69, 71; Jim Furyk (US) 65, 71, 75, 72; Camilo Villegas (Colombia) 74 70 68 71; Henrik Stenson (Sweden) 69, 71, 70, 73.
284 — Jose Maria Olazabal (Spain) 68, 71, 74, 71.
285 — Ernie Els (South Africa) 72, 70, 72, 71; Vaughn Taylor (US) 73, 71, 68, 73; Bo Van Pelt (US) 68, 71, 72, 74; John Rollins (US) 68, 71, 72, 74; Carl Pettersson (Sweden) 71, 70, 70, 74; Vijay Singh (Fiji) 68, 70, 70, 77.
286 — Phil Mickelson (US) 70, 73, 69, 74; Sergio Garcia (Spain) 70, 68, 70, 78.
287 — Brad Faxon (US) 70, 69, 79, 69; K.J. Choi (South Korea) 69, 69, 77, 72; Charles Warren (US) 73, 71, 72, 71; Fred Funk (U.S.) 70, 69, 74, 74.
288 — Brian Davis (Britain) 70, 73, 73, 72; Darren Clarke (Britain) 73, 70, 72, 73.
289 — Greg Owen (Britain) 71, 68, 77, 73; Fredrik Jacobson (Sweden) 69, 72, 74, 74; Tiger Woods (US) 72, 69, 73, 75; Craig Parry (Australia) 70, 73, 70, 76; Mike Weir (Canada) 71, 71, 68, 79;
290 — Nick Price (Zimbabwe) 72, 71, 74, 73; Richard Johnson (Sweden) 72, 70, 75, 73; Ian Poulter (Britain) 72, 68, 75, 75; Jason Bohn (US) 71, 72, 72, 75; Todd Fischer (US) 73, 68, 72, 77; James Driscoll (US) 71, 72, 70, 77; Tom Lehman (US) 71, 71, 70, 78; Tom Pernice Jr (US) 70, 70, 71, 79.
SANTO DA SERRA (Madeira): Jean Van de Velde overcame a double bogey six at the last hole to end a 13-year wait for his second European Tour title by winning the Madeira Island Open on Sunday.
The 39-year-old Frenchman was four strokes clear on the 72nd tee at Santo da Serra.
Van de Velde’s late stumble meant he closed with a four-under-par 68 for a 15-under total of 273, one ahead of Briton Lee Slattery (66) who birdied the last.
Leading final round scores:
273 — Jean Van de Velde (France) 69, 65, 71, 68.
274 — Lee Slattery (Britain) 74, 68, 66, 66.
275 — Pedro Linhart (Spain) 71, 67, 69, 68.
276 — Simon Wakefield (Britain) 72, 68, 68, 68.
278 — Mattias Eliasson (Sweden) 74, 69, 71, 64; Richard Finch (Britain) 70, 69, 72, 67.
279 — David Griffiths (Britain) 72, 69, 71, 67; Jarmo Sandelin (Sweden) 66, 68, 74, 71; Tom Whitehouse (Britain) 73, 65, 71, 70.
280 — Damien McGrane (Ireland) 68, 69, 71, 72.
281 — Warren Abery (South Africa) 69, 70, 74, 68; Christian Cevaer (France) 74, 69, 68, 70; Ian Garbutt (Britain) 72, 69, 70, 70; Garry Houston (Britain) 68, 69, 72, 72.
282 — Marcus Higley (Britain) 72, 69, 71, 70; Francesco Molinari (Italy) 70, 73, 69, 70.—Reuters
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