What's In My Bag? Stephen Ames
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AGE: 44 | LIVES: Calgary, Alberta | STORY: Three tour wins, including 2006 Players; first tour player to come from Trinidad and Tobago
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BELIEVE
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By Stephen Ames
Interviewed By Mark Soltau
Photo By Marc Feldman/Getty Images March 2009 It took awhile to believe in myself. When I started working with my psychologist, Alan Fine, in 2004, there was a noticeable difference in my game. We had a life-threatening issue with my wife in 2005. (She is a nonsmoker but was diagnosed with lung cancer; she's doing better now.)
After that, every year has been a great year. Fine tried to get me to play more naturally, like Stephen Ames the instinctive player rather than Stephen Ames the technical player. It's still a struggle.
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Groove FACTOR
- I'm already using grooves like the less spinny ones we're supposed to be playing next year. I can tell the difference.
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RAISING A CHAMP
- Golfers can be fragile. But they're not so fragile if they're brought up to be natural, instinctive killers, trying to make everything and beat everyone. The classic example is Tiger. His dad brought him up to think that way, to be No. 1 all the time. The rest of us have to learn to get rid of all the bad stuff before we can start playing with his kind of insight.
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TRAVEL LIGHT
- I carry six gloves, but there's not a lot more in there. I use the tees they hand out that week. I have to travel light. Hey, I carry the bag, too.
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MASTERS STUFF
- They hand out useful stuff at the Masters, like this sunscreen-lip balm combo. I've played well there (four cuts in four tries)
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