Calgary’s Stephen Ames and Darryl James, along with fellow Canadians Rod Spittle and Jim Rutledge, have joined the field for next week’s Shaw Charity Classic.
Ames, who has two top-10 finishes on the Champions Tour this season, is one of the founders of the Shaw tournament, which is in its third year.
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“This is the back nine of my career so I am thrilled once again to have the opportunity to play in a Tour event in a city that is very special to me,” said Ames, who also spends time living in Vancouver.
“Many of us worked very hard for a long time to bring an event of this caliber to this market. Hopefully I will play well and it would be great to have a Canadian at the top of the leaderboard on Sunday.”
Raised in Trinidad, Ames is one of Canada’s most successful PGA Tour pros, and the winner of the 2006 Players Championship, along with three other wins.
James, a local PGA of Canada pro, has been offered a sponsor’s exemption after being a qualifier for last year’s event.
“Qualifying last year was an absolute dream come true. It was the biggest day of my life,” said James, who was on-hand at Canyon Meadows Golf and Country Club for the third annual media day horse race competition on Wednesday.
“The experience kind of reignited the fire in me to start playing more competitively again, and I hope to build on the knowledge gained last year to put in a strong showing next week.”
Spittle, born in St. Catharines, Ont., won the 2010 AT&T Championship and has been a regular on the Champions Tour for most of the last decade. He played in the first two Shaw Charity Classics, alongside Victoria’s Rutledge.
The four Canucks will play at Canyon Meadows alongside 81 other golf greats, including Masters winners Ian Woosnam, Mark O’Meara and Mark Calcavecchia, as well as defending champion Fred Couples, who won in a dramatic playoff over Billy Andrade last year.
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