Long road back for Ames after latest rankings plunge

LONDON, England – Trinidad and Tobago-born golfer Stephen Ames faces a long road back to the top echelons of golf after plunging to 125th in the latest Official World Golf Rankings released on Sunday. The 46-year-old, who now plays for Canada, experienced a prodigious slide down the rankings last year which was further complicated by a back injury that forced him out of action in October and caused him to bring a premature end to his season. He finished the year 118th but fell seven places in the first rankings of the New Year to reach an unfamiliar low.

The last time Ames campaigned in such lowly territory was nearly nine years ago in the fledgling stages of his career. However, he finished second in the 2002 PLAYERS Championship to leap from 144th to 65th in the world. Though he slipped out of the top-100 since, he has never gone beyond 106th. Injury aside, Ames struggled on the PGA Tour last year, with his best finish being a sixth place at the Transitions Championship in March.

In the top tier of the rankings, there was only one change as Irishman Graeme McDowell moved one spot into fifth, exchanging places with American Jim Furyk. England’s Lee Westwood continues at the top with former number one American Tiger Woods in second, and German Martin Kaymer and American Phil Mickelson in third and fourth respectively. The new season will get going this week with the US$5.6 million Hyundai Tournament of Champions set to tee off in Maui, Hawaii on Thursday. (CMC)