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THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIPMay 9, 2007Stephen AmesPONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA DOUG MILNE: Stephen Ames, thanks for joining us, defending champion. Just a couple comments. You've had a chance to get out and play. Just some thoughts on the course and the state of your game. STEPHEN AMES: The course or the weather? Q. Well, I guess the weather, unfortunately. STEPHEN AMES: The course I think is in probably better shape than I've ever seen it because of the time of the year we've played it in the past. But I think overall, I think it's a better golf course. It has more imagination around the greens for hitting different shots and stuff like that, which in the past we've never had before. So I think in that sense it's probably a bit more fun to play. Q. And how about your game? STEPHEN AMES: My state of the game I think is very good right now at this stage. I'm enjoying the way that I'm hitting the ball right now. I think that I would say I'm probably at right in middle of where I need to start playing more and move golf shots and less golf swing because I've had to make so many changes in my swing. I think right now I'm at that verge of turning it into something else, which is good. Q. You've probably said this and I've probably missed it, but why did you change your swing? STEPHEN AMES: Because of my back. The swing before was giving me a lot of back problems, and with the new coach, he explained to me why. It made a ton of sense, all the sense in the world. Now I've gone through those changes, and even when I look at it on film now, I enjoy looking at it on film. Before I never did. Q. What's the biggest structural change, a little more upright over the ball? STEPHEN AMES: A little more upright over the ball, less whip off the ball the first move. It sets a little bit quicker. Q. Pick it up a little bit quicker? STEPHEN AMES: I guess that's the terminology, but it doesn't feel that way. And from there it's a little easier to get the club -- now we're working on the downswing, trying to get the club a little bit more level through the ball, and I'm seeing the results. This is the first I'm hitting the golf shots with 3-irons and 4-irons and I'm getting nice big wide divots, which is what you want to achieve. You want to start with the whole club to get back to that position at impact. I don't think I'm that far off that stage, and I'm starting to see it more with the driver. The driver is flying flatter, has less spin, and of course I'm going to gain distance, which is what I'm achieving right now, too. So it's a lot more fun now. Q. Dare I ask what the divots used to look like? STEPHEN AMES: Yeah, bacon strips, very thin, or none at all. Q. When exactly did you start this rebuilding process? STEPHEN AMES: November of last year. Q. And you were out for -- STEPHEN AMES: I was out from August -- Q. Firestone? STEPHEN AMES: Firestone tried to be my last competitive round. I played one round at Canadian Open and one round at World Golf Championships in England. Withdrew from both because I couldn't go on. Q. When did you discover you had to change? I mean, obviously that moment, but did you -- STEPHEN AMES: Well, I thought it was -- after coming back from England, playing the World Golf Championship, the Monday after, I went in for an MRI to see if it was bone structure, and of course it wasn't, it was muscle. And then from there it was like, okay, let's find somebody who's able to understand the body mechanics of the golf swing, more than the technical side of a golf swing, and Sean Foley was the guy for me who I had known for about two years because I had hired him to work with the kids at the Stephen Ames Cup from Trinidad when they came up to play the first Stephen Ames Cup in Toronto. I paid him to have a look at all the kids for three and four days at Glen Abbey, so my introduction was through that way, and that's how I've known him since then. Q. Given how little you publicize things you do, what is the Stephen Ames Cup? STEPHEN AMES: Well, for the Canadians, they know what it is. It's a junior event that I host. My foundation runs it. Where I invite 12 kids from Trinidad, 12 kids from Canada, and we play -- Q. How many from Tobago -- STEPHEN AMES: They're all from Trinidad and Tobago. I guess you could say the same thing from Calgary and Toronto, which a lot of Canadians say. Q. How long have you been doing that? STEPHEN AMES: This is my third year. September is going to be our third event. Q. Where is that? STEPHEN AMES: Granite Club in Toronto. Q. Record right now? STEPHEN AMES: 1 and 1. Q. Who do you root for? STEPHEN AMES: Everybody (laughter). Q. So you brought in Sean just to give everybody a coach, so to speak, look at their swing? STEPHEN AMES: Yes, swing, nutrition, psychologist, those kind of things. Q. So the answer was right there in front of you, and did it take you a while to figure it out? STEPHEN AMES: I wouldn't say it was right there in front of me. I never had the opportunity to see him work with the kids. I asked the kids what did he do to your swing, and what they said, those are the things I would have done to my swing myself. And then at the end of the year, it was like, okay, which way do I go to work with somebody because the original coach didn't want to come out as much. And of course I had to put that question towards him, are you willing to come out and spend time with me on TOUR? And he said, yeah, I would love to. The trial run was actually three days prior to going to The Skins Game, which I ended up winning. Q. Did you say you made a swing change only after the MRI, or had you been thinking about it while the back pain was going on? STEPHEN AMES: While the back pain was going on. I wasn't sure when I went to play The Skins Game at the end of November if I'd be able to play. I had swung a couple days prior to that, but when I went down to him to make the changes, he more or less threw a little light at the end of the tunnel, showing me where I'd gone wrong with my swing technique and why my back was hurting me, and through those changes -- we hit a lot of golf balls those three days prior to going into The Skins Game. And after each day I thought I'd be in pain, and I wasn't. In a way it was a blessing in disguise. So I knew from there it was just a matter of working out the muscles. And of course I have also hired a guy in Calgary to work with my back as a personal trainer. So he comes to the house and we work out when I'm home three days, four days a week there, too, as well as being on TOUR with Chris Noss. Q. What's the likelihood of your back hurting again? STEPHEN AMES: The positions where it was before, probably not. Other places, yeah, likely, yeah. Q. You can still do it the wrong way or something? STEPHEN AMES: Yeah, you can go on, and as things have changed, and as he's showing me how things have changed, there's a separation between the upper body and the lower body. I've never had a big separation between the two. Like Tiger has a great separation between the two and Ernie and that's why those guys hit it so far, because they've got just a wonderful coil and of course elasticity on the way down, it changes. I need to structure that and change it, and those are the things we're starting to work on, too, with working out. I'm 43, but I think at the same time it's going to help me have a longevity more in the game itself. Q. When I was out there yesterday watching you with Sean out there, he seems to be a very hands-on guy. More so than most coaches? You and he seem to get along very well out there. STEPHEN AMES: I'm listening, put it that way. Some guys I think have their own philosophy, this is how I'm going to do it. Some guys, if you're telling me something it's going to go in one ear and out the other. I'm listening to everything he's telling me. Everything he's told me so far makes a lot of sense, and he explains it being hands-on, which is very good, yeah. Q. What do you recall about this tournament last year? It seemed like the turning point was not only the double at 10 but coming back with the 5-iron -- STEPHEN AMES: At 16, the lucky kick, and then to make the putt. Q. I was thinking 11, actually. STEPHEN AMES: 11? 3-iron actually into the middle of the green. Yeah, I was a little pissed off after the double because I had a five-shot lead, dwindled down to three, and I was like, no, I want those two shots back. That was my kind of giddy-up on my high horse, let's get those five shots. I didn't want to win by one or two. I wanted to be coming down 16, 17 and 18 and have a few shots in the bag. I didn't think about that, but that would be the perfect scenario, having a few shot lead playing the last three holes, two holes. Q. What does winning THE PLAYERS Championship mean? Is it career defining? STEPHEN AMES: I guess you've got to look at it that way. It's been recognized as the fifth major because of the fact that you're playing against a field that hosts the best players in the world like a major does. Last year there were 48 of the top 50 players that were playing. You go to any major and it's exactly the same thing. So you're playing against the best players at this field, which is what we call a regular PGA TOUR event. This is a regular PGA TOUR event. It's not one of the majors. In that sense, yeah, it's a big boost, without a doubt, yeah. Q. Johnny Miller was throwing around a stat that the last three winners of this thing have led the field in that week in greens in reg. Does that surprise you? STEPHEN AMES: No, it doesn't. I can see that. Q. Why is that? You just kind of have to? STEPHEN AMES: Yeah, to some extent I think you have to. You give yourself more opportunity for birdies. Last year I looked at my stats last week at THE PLAYERS at the meeting. They brought it up there, and we were talking about the configuration of all the new leaderboards and this is how it's going to look, and my name came up there, and I didn't know this. Q. So they had your stats up there from last year? STEPHEN AMES: My stats were there, and I had 20 birdies, two eagles, No. 1 in driving accuracy, No. 1 in greens and No. 1 in putting. I went, yeah, no wonder I won the event. Q. That adds up, doesn't it? STEPHEN AMES: Yeah, and Johnny saying you have to be in that category, I think it just gives you an opportunity. The golf course this week has changed. Before you kind of got the feeling that you were playing a U.S. Open. When you missed the greens, you had to kind of hack it out, kind of get a drop on the green -- Q. It's always a lob wedge, yeah. STEPHEN AMES: This week I think you have a little bit more imagination around the greens, so I think you're going to see some guys chip in the hole this year because of the way they've changed the configuration around the greens. Q. Collection areas and such? STEPHEN AMES: Yeah, the greens are going to get firmer so if you don't keep the ball on the green they're going to run off into those collection areas, so then it ends up being a more up-and-down game, and I think it's more fun that way, even more premium on the fact of hitting greens. If you don't hit it right you're going to run off into the collection areas, but it still gives you an opportunity of getting it up-and-down. Different. Q. Have you played at all here in the Bermuda stage, this summer at all? STEPHEN AMES: No, first time, and I'm looking at putts, and go, "Hello, where did that break come from?" Q. What are those breaks like with Bermuda? Seems like it can be a bit grainy and easy to stub it. STEPHEN AMES: Yeah, it's a bit that way itself. I think maybe a little young. With all the changes that we made, the grass is probably just starting to come through. I think in the years to come, it's probably going to be in better condition. But it's in unbelievable condition right now as it is, considering we've only had ten months to do the changes they've had. So I think overall, it's in great condition. Q. Did you ever get a chance to go up to that upstairs champions' locker room after you won last year? STEPHEN AMES: Yeah, I've been up there a few times to make phone calls. The old champions? Q. Yeah, I thought that was off limits unless you had won here. STEPHEN AMES: No, you can go up there. Everybody is sitting in the one I'm in now. Q. There are weeks when everybody says there's 100 guys that can win in a given PGA TOUR field, but this golf course seemingly is conducive to no particular style of play, and maybe more than any time all year. Do 144 guys have it correct? STEPHEN AMES: Not really. It still comes down to the guy who hits it straight, more greens, more fairways, least putts. The guy who hits it the best is the one that usually wins. I mean, I guess the last two years you've got to look at the guys. Freddie Funk, he probably was No. 1 or No. 2 in stats in fairways and greens, and I was the same last year. I guess the bigger hitters that hit it far bomb it out there and don't have that opportunity, but you can't take Tiger Woods out of the picture anywhere he goes and plays because it's like that quality of player that he is. Q. I know you're kind of ambivalent about the Presidents Cup, but do you ever check the stats and see where you are? I think you're 13th now? STEPHEN AMES: Yeah, I'm 13th. Q. I mean, does it mean more now than it did say two years ago when you didn't really care about it? STEPHEN AMES: I still don't care about it (covering mouth). Yeah, if the opportunity arises, I'm definitely going to play, without a doubt. But it's not something that I'm looking at at the end of the year to see if I make it, if I'm really trying to make it or anything. I mean, my goal, it would probably be a long-term goal if anything rather than a short-term goal. My short-term goal is to play well this week, and as the years go on that's what I try to achieve. At the beginning of the year I don't set out to make $3 million. If it happens, it happens, but you can't worry about it. The Presidents Cup, if I get in, yeah, it would be a great experience to get in, especially playing in Montreal this year. Q. And that's a pretty good group of players in the Top 10. STEPHEN AMES: Of course. That's a tough pick for Gary. I don't want to be in his shoes when he has to go and pick the two players when you consider the fact that -- as an example, a top side change around, Ernie Els and Vijay Singh might be 11th or 12th. Q. One of them better get citizenship in a hurry then. STEPHEN AMES: That's what I'm saying. It's unfortunate. Like I said, I think the International team, I think the International team might be the hardest team to make when it comes to -- when you compare the two, I don't know, have you ever looked at it that way, when you compare the International to the American team? Q. Yeah, you're 31 in the world and you're 13, so figure it out. The numbers are -- you had a European Ryder Cup, there's another ten guys, ten Americans. STEPHEN AMES: It's hard. It's very difficult to get on. Q. When you look at the -- if you look at the statistics, which one do you look at first, the FedExCup points or The Presidents Cup standings? STEPHEN AMES: Presidents Cup. Is there a FedExCup points (laughter)? Actually I look at it every Sunday night, we get a text, how many points you made and what ranking you are, so I do see it. Q. What do you think Mike would have to be to get serious consideration from Gary? STEPHEN AMES: Not a clue. I think he's got to be top 15. But then again -- Q. He picked Immelman -- STEPHEN AMES: Don't quote me on that one. Immelman was 23 when he picked him. I don't know. His comment was wonderful in Florida, I thought. I didn't know Stephen Ames was Canadian. Q. Have you ever played match play in terms of four-ball foursomes? STEPHEN AMES: No, never. Q. World Cup? STEPHEN AMES: Oh, yeah, World Cup. Thank you for reminding me. Q. Have you ever played foursomes or four-balls with anyone but your brother? STEPHEN AMES: No. My wife (laughter). No, never. That would be fun actually, when you consider the fact of the players you'd be playing with. Like the practice round this afternoon nine holes was with Ernie Els. I thought, hey, this would be a great team. Q. If he makes it. STEPHEN AMES: If I make it, yeah (laughing). No, it would be fun. I really would love the opportunity of being there, playing in Montreal, like I said, at home in Canada. I think it would be a lot of fun. It would be hectic but a lot of fun. Q. Have you seen that course lately? STEPHEN AMES: It's changed. Rees Jones has gone in and changed it. I think he's done some good changes. I've always thought his designs have been fair where not everything is a false carry. You can hit the low burner like the majority of the players do and you can get away with it. Like maybe a Fazio or a Pete Dye, everything is a fly, and I think Rees Jones has done a good job of designing golf courses. It's fair. You can play off the back tee and give us a competitive run at it, and you play off the front tee and you're going to get the same feeling, as well, so it's nice. So I suspect he's done a good job, but I have not seen it since it's been finished. Maybe this summer I'll go and have a look when I get to ninth on the list. DOUG MILNE: Stephen, good luck this week. End of FastScripts |
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