 | FINAL LEADERBOARD (US unless stated) -14 S Ames (Can) -8 R Goosen (SA) -5 P Perez, J Furyk, C Villegas (Col), H Stenson (Swe) -4 JM Olazabal (Spa) Selected others:
-3 E Els (SA), V Singh (Fij)
-2 P Mickelson, S Garcia (Spa)
Level D Clarke (NIre), B Davis (Eng)
+1 T Woods, G Owen (Eng)
+2 I Poulter (Eng)
+5 D Howell (Eng), L Westwood (Eng) |
Canada's Stephen Ames strolled to victory in the Players Championship at Sawgrass on Sunday. The Trinidad-born star led overnight and cruised to a 67 for 14 under to beat Retief Goosen by six shots in golf's unofficial fifth major.
South Africa's Goosen carded 69 to climb two clear of Americans Pat Perez and Jim Furyk, Colombian Camilo Villegas and Swede Henrik Stenson.
Ernie Els (71) finished three under, while Tiger Woods (75) ended one over.
"This weekend was probably one of my best driving performances all year but I hit my irons terrible and putted even worse," said Woods, who considered pulling out because of his ailing father.
Two-time Masters champion Jose Maria Olazabal of Spain was four under on his own for seventh, one place ahead of the group that included South Africa's Els, Swede Carl Petterson and Fiji's world number two Vijay Singh, who suffered a 77.
|  It almost felt like a walk in the park, the way I hit the ball. It was very enjoyable |
Spain's Sergio Garcia amassed a 78 to slip back to two under alongside world number four Phi Mickelson of America, while England's Brian Davis and Northern Ireland's Darren Clarke ended level.
England's Greg Owen (+1) and Ian Poulter (+2) saw their hopes dashed of a high finish and a place in the Masters.
Owen moved up one place to 52nd in the world, while Poulter needed to finish third to reach the world's top 50 who qualify for Augusta.
"The Masters was on my mind all day, but the greens were the quickest I have ever played on - close to being unplayable," said Owen, who squandered the Bay Hill Invitational title last week with a double-bogey, bogey finish.
"There are still demons in there I need to get rid of and missing short putts does not help."
Another Englishman David Howell, who suffered a nightmare 81 on Saturday, fought back to five over with a closing 70.
Ames, 41, began with a one-shot cushion over Singh and Garcia and carded the low round of the day.
"It almost felt like a walk in the park, the way I hit the ball. It was very enjoyable," Ames said.
| This was probably one of my best driving performances all year but I hit my irons terrible and putted even worse |
In fact, only Ames, Goosen and American Brad Faxon (69) scored in the 60s over a windy and lightning-fast Stadium Course, where the final-day average card was 75.4.
Ames, who lost by a record 9&8 to Woods in the WGC-Match Play in February, picked up shots at the second and sixth but handed them both back with a double bogey on the par-four 10th.
Ames made amends with further birdies at 11, 13 and 15 and an eagle on the long 16th ensured a procession up the final holes.
Ames, who had his brother Robert on his bag, earned a five-year US PGA Tour exemption, a spot in the next three Masters and Open Championships as well as a place in this year's US Open and PGA Championship.
"I get to relax a little more now, not worry about getting into the majors so much," Ames said. "I guess it's a notch in my belt now which is a wonderful feeling."
The 2002 Players Championship runner-up - he was denied when New Zealander Craig Perks chipped in twice in the last three holes - was ranked 64th in the world before this week.
MMIX
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