Stephen Ames Quotations

Life is a bit easier not worrying about the future of where the family is going to be or what is happening in the future.

Let's put it this way. I'll take level par right now. At the end of the week, I think it will be pretty good. I wouldn't be far off by saying it's definitely going to be single-digits, without a doubt, winning the event.

Sixth hole, Tiger's up by the green waiting. I told him, 'Sorry it took so long, but I was 120 yards behind you.' He laughed.

My kids are on spring break and this was scheduled as a two-week vacation. The Masters, obviously, was never a consideration and now I'd have to tell the kids that dad's going to play in another golf tournament. I'd rather be going on vacation, to be honest.

Obviously the fact that she's out walking around and following me again like she did in the past ... has been a big weight off my shoulders.

For me right now, being a Canadian and having an opportunity of winning the Canadian Open, or any other PGA Tour event, would be a great feat at this stage,

Having the opportunity to birdie the last three holes like I did today was good. And maybe a couple of fortunate times, like 18, a little scare on the 3-wood (drive), it ended up being way up the fairway and only a 6-iron in. It was fortunate and the nature of the game.

It almost feels like we've been kicked back to a secondary event unfortunately. I wish Tim would look at it a little bit harder - and give us a better date.

Overall, it was just a matter of getting out of my own way. Every shot this week, I was able to see the shape of it and then hit it the way I wanted.

Overall it's been very consistent ball-striking and the whole package has been very good.

Overall I held it together. I just couldn't make enough birdies.

I think I get to relax a little bit more now. It's a player's goal to either win majors or play in majors. I'm going to enjoy it.

It felt like a walk in the park, the way I hit the ball.

I think I did that this week, put myself in another gear. It was a matter of seeing the shot and hitting the shot and not worrying about it because... nobody was close to me to worry about it.

It has been a big burden on me trying to play golf, ... It was very difficult for me to focus or even see shots that I wanted to play because there are other things that were playing in my mind.

I think I was watching it with Vijay. I was watching the scoreboard from the first hole, so I knew.

I'm hitting the ball very well right now.

I wasn't nervous at all. It felt like a practice round.

You can get it going and knock out your opponent, or it can go the opposite way.

With the trees, the mistake has to be left off the tee. And that brings the water into play. You used to be able to miss right and even run your ball up. Now, you can't. You have to fly it there.

Tiger played exceptionally well, It was a rough nine for Tiger.

You know it's going to keep getting hard and fast.

You look at the start of this year; he hasn't driven it great, yet he still comes out winning. His short game and his iron play is phenomenal. If you followed these nine holes, you know how good it was. He was hitting it inside 10 feet every hole. That's good playing. This was the best I've seen him hit the driver, too.

We worked on a few things that we've been working on from the British Open onwards with the swing, ... What we've done from there is incorporate a little bit more shot-making, picturing shots a little bit more, which I had completely gone off of for part of this year.

The day was not easy. This week has been a very patient week ? putting the ball in the right spots and course management, getting it around.

When you live in Calgary and take 10 weeks off from golf, you're just trying to get back to basics.

What am I going to do, sit down and cry about it? He's the No. 1 player in the world, and he played exceptionally well for... was it nine or 10 holes? That was it.

You don't know in match play what can happen. He might have an off day. He might not recover from his cold. You don't know. Match play is such an individual game.

Even Tiger can have an off-day and lose like he's done in the past.

Disney World for three days, then it was Sea World. It was a kid-oriented trip. No golf.

Exceptionally long. It's back to the bombers again. Still, the wind is pretty tricky. I'm in a great position. I'm happy to be where I am.

Except for the 10th hole, I played a flawless round. It felt like a walk in the park.

It was wonderful. I was just fortunate enough to be the only Canadian in the group left and also fortunate to put on a show like I did today.

Some things have gone on in my private life, it's been difficult, and I'm just happy to be here again.

Anything can happen. Especially where he's hitting the ball.

This is big. This is characterized as the fifth major. I beat the top players in the world.

This is probably three, maybe four shots tougher than Hamilton.

They'd three-putt everything. They wouldn't realize how quick these things are.

It was only a five-iron. It wasn't a three-iron or two-iron. I hit the shot exactly how I pictured it. The wind switched on us. It ended up being a good eagle.

It was something I had to talk to my family about before I made that decision.

It's a big relief to see her. I think overall it's been a big weight taken off my shoulders and life is a bit easier not to worry about the future of where the family is going.

It's a big relief to have her following me again,

I tried to make birdies the last couple of holes and it didn't come out for me. I guess you can (attribute) that to pressure. I haven't been in that situation. I was trying to press the issue a little bit maybe, rather than just letting it happen. I think eventually a Canadian will win this.

It's not the same golf course that it used to be.

It's always been a special place ... for golf. There's a lot of mystique behind the place. Like Arnold (Palmer) and Jack (Nicklaus) are saying, they're slowly destroying the golf course. It's not the same golf course that it used to be.

It's always been a good golf course to my eyes.

It's hard to focus and play golf. It's next to impossible. When I was playing the British Open last year, I'm standing over every shot going, 'What am I doing with this golf ball?' I was in a distant zone.

It's been a big burden trying to play golf. Other things play on your mind. I'm happy to be in this position again. It's been a long battle.

It's been a long battle for me this year. I had a great feeling this week coming into the event.

It's playing long out there for guys like us. For Tiger and some of the other guys, it's different. I'm hitting 5-iron and other guys are hitting 9 and 8.

The bigger the better as far as I'm concerned.

the best golf course I've played in Canada.

It looked like more fun then. Today, it was work.

It's big. I beat the best players in the world this week.

I've got to sit down and think about that at this time.

It was heartbreaking watching them play as poorly as they did, unfortunately. But I just got on with my game and seeing the shots I wanted to hit.

Snake-bitten or not, it's still a great finish.

That's as straight as he hit it today.

Around the green (the rough) is horrendous as far as I'm concerned,

Around the greens, (the rough) is horrendous as far as I'm concerned. It's something that probably should have been taken care of three years ago when they decided to have the Open here.

Around the greens, it's horrendous as far as I'm concerned. I think the fairway rough is fair. But they have five or six different types of grass around the greens and it's patchy.

Around the greens, it's horrendous as far as I'm concerned, ... I think the fairway rough is fair. But they have five or six different types of grass around the greens and it's patchy.

I'm going have a different approach to Augusta now. I'm going to be looking forward to see ? with my new frame of mind ? what kind of performance I can put on.

I'm not going to complain about it. I thought I played exceptionally well until the last six holes.

I just want to go out tomorrow, and play the same way I did today. Commit to everything like I did today and hopefully things will work out in my favor.

I love it, and I'm looking forward to it. I only have good memories there.

I love it when my kids can come and watch me play. We had a fabulous weekend.

I'm proud to be part of the Making the Connection program. My father has a family history of high cholesterol and because of this and my age I also need to monitor my cholesterol closely. I understand how important it is that we take the steps to keep our cholesterol under control, and I want to encourage other Canadians to do the same to protect their heart health.

I'm in the hunt. I have an opportunity to play well at my second Masters. You always learn from those experiences and hopefully over the next three years, I have a chance to win.

I'm in the hunt, I have an opportunity. I'm playing well obviously I have a chance here, four behind with 27 holes to play. I'll take it in stride and tomorrow's another day.

I'm just happy to be in this position again because it's been a long battle for me this year,

I have no plans of playing at Augusta. My kids have just come out for spring break and we had plans to go somewhere else. My priorities have always been my family first. If it comes down to that, it's probably going to be a two-week vacation, yes.

Instead of letting it happen, I was trying to make it happen,

I really enjoyed the day. It felt almost like a walk in the park the way I was hitting the ball. It was a good day. Good week.

I played well. I was very comfortable with my setup, how I was hitting it, and it was just a matter of going out and being patient, or waiting for it to happen.

I guess overall you've got to believe that you have a great golf swing and it's working. If you start worrying about if your golf swing is there or not, you're going to fall.

I guess the word was battled - I got it around. It was a good day for that. As the week's gone on, the golf course has changed and it's starting to show its teeth because it's getting firmer and faster on the greens.

I just speak my mind, and I always have.

I just didn't putt very well, missed a lot coming home and on the first nine holes. Other than that, it was a good experience. This golf course definitely suits my game and I'm looking forward to next year.

I just didn't putt very well. I missed a lot of putts coming home and lot of putts outside on the front nine.

I don't think I have to worry about winning the fans over at this stage. I'm not going to take anything away from Michael. He's won a Masters.

If he continues playing the way he's playing, he should walk away with this - easily.

The greens are actually firmer than the fairways.

The gallery was wonderful. I was fortunate to be the only Canadian in the group (of 16) left.

The conditions are very favorable for everybody hitting to the hole. Tomorrow it should be perfect.

You won't shoot nine under unless you birdie the first two or three holes. You just start firing at everything.

You have to have a very well-balanced life to be able to perform very well.