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Ames Works On Swing, Then Wins Tournament

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The Associated Press

Published: November 5, 2007

LAKE BUENA VISTA - Even without a trophy, Stephen Ames felt he had nothing to prove.

Despite a winless season, he 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 Calgary 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 3 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 the final round.

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

Ames finished at 17-under 271, the highest winning score at Disney since Tiger Woods won with the same score in 1999.

LPGA: At Shima, Japan, Momoko Ueda became the first Japanese player to win the Mizuno Classic in nine years with a 5-under 66 that included a double-eagle. She held off American Reilley Rankin and Sweden's Maria Hjorth to win by two strokes.

Ueda finished at 13-under 203 in the 54-hole tournament to earn $210,000 for her first LPGA Tour victory. Hiromi Kobayashi was the last Japanese player to win the Mizuno, taking the 1998 tournament at Musashigaoka.

EUROPEAN TOUR: At Sotogrande, Spain, Justin Rose made sure to clinch the European Order of Merit, then added a win at the Volvo Masters for good measure.

Rose secured the Order of Merit by reaching a three-way playoff at Valderrama, where the Englishman rolled in a 12-foot putt at the second extra hole to win the season-ending tournament over Simon Dyson and Soren Kjeldsen.

Rose finished with a 3-over 74. Dyson shot a 70 and Kjeldsen had a 67. They tied at 1-under 283.

SINGAPORE OPEN: U.S. Open champion Angel Cabrera birdied the last hole to win the tournament by one stroke and fend off a challenge from Vijay Singh.

Cabrera started the day with a four-stroke lead, but shot a one-over 72 in the final round at Sentosa Golf Club to finish at 8-under 276.

NATIONWIDE TOUR: At Lakeside, Calif., Wales' Richard Johnson won the season-ending Nationwide Tour Championship to lead the 25 qualifiers for the 2008 PGA Tour, shooting a 4-under 67 for a one-stroke victory over Michael Letzig.

Johnson, 35, finished with a 20-under 264 total on the Barona Creek course, breaking the tournament record of 18-under 270 set by Chris Couch in 2003.

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