After a year of swing changes, Ames gets trophy

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He sure got a good test.

“I wanted to see how my golf swing held up,” Ames said. “Part of it held up, and part of it didn’t.”

It was messy atop the leaderboard, nothing new at this tournament. The seven players tied for the lead at some point included Bryce Molder, who made eagle at No. 14 to get to 15 under, only to give it back two holes later when his drive found the water.

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Verplank went ahead a 15-foot birdie on the seventh hole and stayed atop the leaderboard most of the day.

Ames holed a 12-foot birdie on the 13th hole to tie for the lead, he and Verplank both birdied the par-5 14th, and the turning point came at the 204-yard 15th, where Ames hit a 4-iron that rolled past the pin and settled 8 feet away.

“That was a clutch shot,” Ames said.

He also knew what followed — three of the longest, toughest holes on the Magnolia course, knowing that Clark already had posted his score. But he kept the ball in play off the tee, and didn’t have to work too hard to par until his bunker shot at the end.

Clark had no reason to play this week, because he already is exempt for the Masters. Even after running off four straight birdies starting at No. 9 with a 30-foot putt, winning never occurred to him until his 10-foot birdie on the 14th put him in a tie for the lead.

But he had few complaints.

“I really didn’t leave anything out there,” he said.

Divots: Verplank went over $3 million for the first time in his career. ... J.B. Holmes came into the week at No. 126 on the money list and tied for ninth to finish at No. 118. He already was exempt for 2008 from winning last year, but at least qualified for The Players Championship. ... Molder tied for sixth, his first top 10 on the PGA Tour in more than five years.

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