It wouldn’t be the Rogers Charity Classic without Stephen Ames.
So the annual PGA Tour Champions stop in Calgary is pleased to have the Canadian golf legend back on the course for the 2024 edition.
Ames was among the confirmed names added Wednesday to the field at Canyon Meadows Golf and Country Club, Aug. 14-18.
It’s a star-studded pack of 12 more golf greats for the tee-sheet of the 2024 Rogers Charity Classic in the city’s southwest.
“Many of us worked very hard to bring an event of this calibre to this market,” said Ames, who is part of the eight-person philanthropic Patron Group backing the award-winning tournament in Calgary since its inception in 2013.
Adding to the international flavour of Canada’s lone PGA Tour Champions stop is an impressive lineup of top names in golf from around the world who have also booked their tickets to Calgary.
Among those fellow golfers most recently confirmed with Ames are Steven Alker (New Zealand); Billy Andrade (United States); K.J. Choi (South Korea); David Frost (South Africa); Fred Funk (United States); and Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spain).
Also in for 2024 as of Wednesday are five of the tournament’s previous winners, including defending champion Ken Duke (2023). Jerry Kelly (2022); Doug Barron (2021); Scott McCarron (2018, 2017) and Jeff Maggert (2015) are the others.
That announced group joins a talented field of previously confirmed World Golf Hall of Famers in Ernie Els, Retief Goosen, Padraig Harrington, Colin Montgomerie, José María Olazábal and Vijay Singh and 15 major champions on the PGA Tour, including Team Rogers athlete Mike Weir, Darren Clarke, John Daly, David Duval, Tom Lehman and David Toms.
“The real winner of the event is obviously going to be the charities again,” Ames said. “And that’s what the tournament was made for, more than anything else.”
But there’s also a winner on the course.
And Ames’ play recently has him coming in as a contender for the title. The 60-year-old comes to his former Calgary home on a hot streak, sitting second on the 2024 Charles Schwab Cup money list with two victories — including six dating back to 2023 — to go along with 10 top-10 finishes in 2024.
“One thing that never leaves any of us on this tour is that we still want to play well, so it has been nice for me to be able to do that again this year,” said Ames, whose best finish at the Rogers Charity Classic came in 2015 when he was tied for fifth place. “I haven’t changed much of what I’ve been doing — just everything is a little better, more efficient. The main one is the fact that I’m staying healthier. I’m constantly in the gym trying to keep that up. Obviously, we have to at our age.
“Bernhard (Langer) is a classic example of that,” added Ames, a four-time winner on the PGA Tour. “He’s 66, and he’s still capable of winning out here. We all know how fit he is and how well he looks after himself. I think that’s the benefit of trying to keep yourself there.
“In my case, that’s what I’m trying to do also.”
— Postmedia Network