Ames Shoots Himself Out of PresCup?

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It will be announced at 10 am Monday morning, but I’m already betting that Stephen Ames’ woeful 76 while playing head-to-head with Tiger at the PGA Championship today won’t win over international team captain Gary Player.

And since I suspect the powers-that-be want a Canadian on the team, and given that Weir has a major championship under his belt and has played well lately, with the exception of the PGA Championship, I still think the Canadian lefty will be the pick.

Ames, who in the past has said he might consider turning down a place on the PresCup team because he dislikes match play, seems to have changed, as he told the Sun chain:

“It’s in my mind to some extent,” said Ames, who was born in Trinidad, but moved to Calgary 13 years ago so his wife could be close to her family. “I’ve actually looked at some other players who are in the running as a (captain’s) pick. Everybody who is between me and the 10th (and final automatic) spot is behind me on the leaderboard. Those are the things I’ll be looking at because I would like to play the Presidents Cup.”

Ames says he is decidedly Canadian now:

“I’ve been feeling it for five or six years,” he said. “Even before I became a Canadian I was adopted very much by Calgarians. And as I became a Canadian the Toronto guys kind of picked up on me a bit. I think having it in Montreal deserves having a Canadian on the team. If it means that I have to play my way in or at least give Mr. Player a tingle of thought that Mr. Ames has played well at the PGA and maybe he deserves to get on the team, yeah, that’s my goal.”

Ames’ lousy day likely hurt his PresCup chances, according to Vancouver Canwest columnist Cam Cole:

In the space of nine holes, he undid three days hard work, bogeyed his way out of the plot and into in other news. Played his way off television, and very likely, off the Presidents Cup team.

I was fighting my swing, right off the start, and from there it was a struggle to get back into it, said Ames, whose six-over-par 76 ” the same score he shot on Sunday at the U.S. Open, which he led outright for a few moments ” dropped him from second all the way to a tie for 12th, and cost him $636,000 US.

Apparently, like Vijay’s remarks in PEI, others on the team also think there will be at least one Canadian on the team:

The most prominent Canadian, however, missed the PGA cut and sits 20th on the International team list. Mike Weir, the 2003 Masters champion, has been one of Player’s best producers in the Presidents Cup, earning eight points in three previous appearances.

“I definitely think it’s a good idea to get one of those guys on the team,” Retief Goosen said. “I think Gary will definitely keep those guys in mind.”

We’ll see…. my bet is that Ames’ difficulty in the final round of the PGA will hurt him, as opposed to help him. After all, apparently he can’t play one-on-one with Tiger. Of course, few can.