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DES MOINES, Iowa — Stephen Ames, Steve Stricker and Tim Herron shuffled around the green at the 18th hole, calculating the best strategy to finish off the Principal Charity Classic on Sunday.
Ames — who teed off the final hole with a one-stroke lead — knew he had secured the win when Stricker missed his putt, and the 2021 Principal Charity Classic winner was relieved to avoid a playoff for the trophy.
“The fact that Steve (Stricker) missed his putt, I knew we weren’t going to a playoff,” Ames said. “In the past, Steve would’ve made the putt on 15, 16 and here. Fortunately for me, it worked out that way.”
Ames finished 17-under for the week after scores of 66-66-67–200. The Canadian birdied four holes on the front nine and two in the back, which gave Ames the padding needed to pull off the win, even with a bogey on No. 14.
The win at the Wakonda Club marked the third PGA Tour Champions win of the season for Ames, who came out on top in the Trophy Hassan II in February and Mitsubishi Electric Classic in May.
The Principal Charity Classic victory was Ames’ second win on this tour in less than a month. He claimed the winner’s purse of $300,000, which brings his total Charles Schwab Cup winnings to $1,138,164. He was ranked fourth ahead of the PCC, with three top-10 finishes, including his two victories and a ninth-place finish in the Insperity Invitational.
“Everything,” Ames said when asked what was working well right now. “At this stage, it’s the same things I was doing last year…and maybe the putter’s a little warmer at times.”
He held on for the win, but Sunday’s round was Ames’ highest score of the competition. Fortunately for Ames, the other leaders struggled, as well.
Stricker, who won last week at the Senior PGA, had a bogey-free day but he only birdied four times, two in the front nine, two in the back nine.
Stricker has two PGA Tour Champions major wins in 2023 – the Regions Tradition and the Senior PGA Championship – and has three wins in all this year, including the Mitsubishi Electric Championship in January.
“It was a battle today, there’s no doubt about that,” Ames said. “Steve obviously, the way he’s played this year already tells you that it was going to be a good battle. And the fact that I ended up on top is more fulfilling than anything else right now.”
Herron, who entered the final round tied for the lead, slipped a bit on Sunday. He had three bogeys across the first five holes…
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