Stephen Ames celebrated his 60th birthday in style by winning the Mitsubishi Electric Classic with a successful title defense. He closed with a 5-under 67 on Sunday to finish at 14-under 202 at TPC Sugarloaf, securing his eighth PGA Tour Champions victory.
Despite being a stroke behind Paul Broadhurst at the beginning of the day, Ames managed to clinch the win. Broadhurst, an Englishman who is also 58 years old, closed with a 72 to tie for second with Doug Barron. K.J. Choi and Steven Alker finished at 9 under, while Ames became the first multiple winner this year on the tour, also winning the Chubb Classic in February.
Ames, a naturalized Canadian citizen from Trinidad and Tobago, has been on a winning streak with six victories in his last 29 starts after winning twice in his first 175 outings on the 50-and-over tour. With four victories on the PGA Tour and now eight on the PGA Tour Champions, Ames certainly solidified his status as a golfing legend.
In the final round, Ames opened with a birdie on the par-4 first hole and then made an eagle on both par-5 sixth and par-4 thirteenth hole. He birdied again on par-4 fourteen before bogeying holes fifteen and seventeen but ended his game strong by making another birdie on par-5 eighteen hole which secured his victory in this tournament.
