Ames slams ‘tricked up’ course after rough outing at US Open

SAN FRANCISCO, California—Stephen Ames held nothing back after carding a final-round 72 on Sunday to avoid finishing dead last at the US Open. The Trinidad and Tobago-born player started the final day bottom of the leaderboard but his two-over 72 represented his best round at the Olympic Club and it managed to secure him a tie for 68th. He finished 18-over 298 for the tournament won by American Webb Simpson with a one-over 281. “What was really tough about it (course) was how inconsistent it was,” Ames lamented. “The front-nine greens were somewhat receptive, and the back-nine greens became almost impossible to stop and 2-1/2 to almost three feet faster, only because of the fact that they didn’t add water to them. “So it’s a form of a trick-up and you actually see the difference between the two sets of greens.”

 

The course proved an immense challenge to some of the best golfers in the world. Defending champion Rory McIlroy of Ireland missed the cut after going 10-over while World number one Luke Donald of England also bowed out early at 11-over. Three-time Masters champion Phil Mickelson finished tied for 65th after going 16-over while star attraction Tiger Woods was tied for the lead after the second round but shot a 75 and 73 in the final rounds to finish tied for 21st. “It’s unfortunate, but they didn’t really need to trick up this golf course, it’s such a good golf course the way it is. You know, let it lay, throw your eight minutes of water on it that they normally do. I think last night (Saturday), they threw less on some greens and more on others,” said Ames. “It’s not warm enough to say that the [back-nine greens] dried out in the hour-and-a-half it took us to play the front. I don’t think grass dries that fast in this temperature. Both Joe (Ogilvie) and I thought it was a little unfair.” Ogilvie, who played the last round with Ames, finished dead last at 23-over. Following his wretched third round 79, Ames showed a huge improvement on the final round with a bogey and a birdie on the front nine to make the turn at even-par. However, he then dropped shots on the 13th, 15th and the 16th to slide to three over. Completely against the run of the play, he knocked down a 30-foot putt for birdie on the 344-yard par-4 18th, to ease some of his frustration. (CMC)