It appears the weather chaos of the last few weeks isn’t limited to the PGA Tour’s west coast swing. The final round of the 2024 Chubb Classic at Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Fla., was set to be shortened to nine holes on Sunday due to expected storms, but the round was later canceled outright, making Stephen Ames the champion after 36 holes. Just two weeks ago, Wyndham Clark won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am on the PGA Tour when the final round was canceled due to weather.
The victory in Naples marks the seventh of Ames’ PGA Tour Champions career — and his fifth in the last year.
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Ames launched himself to the top of the leaderboard after firing a second-round 64 (-8) that included nine birdies and one bogey to bring him to 13 under par through 36 holes, giving him a three-shot lead over his closest competitor, Rocco Mediate.
“Overall I hit the ball extremely nice. I loved how I hit it,” Ames said on Saturday. “Putting was extremely nice, but it was something that actually saved my round.”
Mediate birdied his 18th hole on Saturday to end up finishing solo second, his best PGA Tour Champions finish since his win at the 2019 Sanford International.
This week, the PGA Tour Champions heads to Morocco for the Trophy Hassan II at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam in Rabat, which will be played February 22-24. Ames is the defending champion.