CHUBB CLASSIC PRESENTED BY SERVPRO

February 17, 2024

Stephen Ames

Tiburón Golf Club

Quick Quotes

Q. Stephen Ames, leader at 13-under. Walk us through your round today.

STEPHEN AMES: I hit the ball a little bit more consistent than I did yesterday. I think I hit two bad drives yesterday that didn't cost me but I got away with. Today was a little indifferent because of the fact that the wind was actually blowing a lot harder than it was yesterday. That made it a little bit more interesting, shall we say. Overall I hit the ball extremely nice. I loved how I hit it. Putting was extremely nice, but it was something that actually saved my round.

Q. You had nine birdies today, so you had four straight on the front. Did that carry your momentum --

STEPHEN AMES: Yeah, that's when the putter started feeling a little bit more comfortable in my hands a little bit. I was hitting it close all the time, so it was just a matter of getting the ball rolling into the hole, which I didn't do for the first six or seven holes, so it was tough there, especially when your playing partner is making everything, so it was hard.

I think overall it was just a matter of being patient, and look what happened.

Q. Talking about being patient, what was your mindset going into today knowing what the weather is going to be like tomorrow?

STEPHEN AMES: Yeah, I thought it was kind of a day where it was get to the gate very quickly. I figured Rocco might have done a little -- especially with the way the wind was blowing. I thought the day was going to be tougher. As it ended up, everybody did falter a little bit coming down. I was actually the only one that moved forward quite a bit.

Like I said, you don't know what the scenario is going to be tomorrow. Still don't know, but apparently we're still playing nine holes, which like I said before didn't know that was in our regulations but apparently it is, so that's something new. There will be a lot of players bringing it up with our commissioner and go from there. Leave it at that.

Q. You won a lot last year. What did you learn about closing and being comfortable in that situation?

STEPHEN AMES: I figure it was more of a fact that I had to be comfortable with being in that situation. I learnt that very well last year. I knew when I had to take on certain shots and which shots I didn't need to take on. That was the learning part of it. This year it's pretty much the same right now, taking shots on that I normally wouldn't or I should. I'm swinging very well. Happy how I'm swinging at it, feeling very comfortable, and like I said, the putter is a bit iffy for me. I'm not 100 percent sure on it right now.

Q. I saw the chip-in at 7. What are a couple birdies that really stand out?

STEPHEN AMES: The main ones are the fact that like from 110, 120 yards down, how much more dialed in, tighter I was on those shots yesterday they were a little bit more looser than today. When you're playing golf courses of this length, you have to pull off those kind of shots. Today I was a little sharper, and those were actually a lot of my birdies, which is nice.

Q. Cooky raved about the shot into 17. What was that?

STEPHEN AMES: Well, the drive was perfect, exactly how I pictured it. I only had 152 to the hole. A beautiful little 8-iron, just let the wind fall, and it fell to about eight feet, ten feet right of the flag and made the putt. When you hit that down the middle that far, it makes that hole a lot easier because it's a beast of a hole.

Q. If you do get to play tomorrow, what are your expectations?

STEPHEN AMES: It is what it is. If we get to play tomorrow, we play nine holes, finish at 4:00 or 5:00 and then drive to Miami and off to Morocco. Like everything in life, you've got to put things in perspective and go from there. It is what it is. If we play, we're going to play. If we don't, yeah, thanks.