Masters a nice poser for Ames

US Tour: Of course Stephen Ames is likely to play in the US Masters. But you've got to see his point. Family does come first.

After winning the Players Championship at Sawgrass on Sunday with a controlled display of golf, which left him six shots clear of his closest pursuer, the Trinidadian - who nowadays plays as a Canadian citizen - raised some doubt as to whether he would make the trip to Augusta next week.

The reason? He had planned a two-week holiday at home in the Caribbean with his wife Jodi and their two sons. "I've no plans of playing at Augusta. My kids have just come out for their spring break and we had plans to go elsewhere. My priorities have always been my family first. If it comes down to that, it's probably going to be a two-week vacation," said Ames, who jumped from 67th to 27th in the world as a consequence of his win.

Pressed on whether he would change his holiday plans to take in the first major, Ames replied: "Basically, it (the Masters) wasn't on my schedule . . . I'm going to have to cut their break short by saying 'dad is going to go play another golf tournament'. It just wasn't on the schedule. Now it is, obviously, so I've got to sit down and talk to them about it and see what happens."

Ames insists he has nothing against Augusta itself. "I haven't had a bad experience - it's the greatest place in the world. Like I said, I'm not sure about it yet."

The manner of Ames's victory was remarkable. In that final round 67 for a 14-under-par winning total of 274, six strokes clear of runner-up Retief Goosen, Ames - apart from a brief glitch at the 10th, where he ran up a double bogey - played flawless golf.

Take this: when he walked off the green on Sunday, his name was atop the leaderboard (just where he had started) but those behind him in tied second were Vijay Singh, ranked second in the world; Goosen, ranked third, and Ernie Els, ranked fourth. Ames blew them all away.

"I put myself in another gear and another place that I've probably felt a couple of times in my career playing golf . . . but not for four days like I did this week," said Ames.

In securing his high point of a career that started out in 1987, and included spells on the European Tour before finally making the US Tour his home circuit (after overcoming visa problems), Ames was also bouncing back from last season when his mind was more on family matters than on the golf course.

His wife Jodi was diagnosed with lung cancer last May and underwent surgery in July, the day after the British Open. "When I was playing the British Open I'm standing over each golf shot going, 'what am I doing with this golf ball?' I had no thought what I wanted to do with it, I was in a distant zone somewhere. It was a difficult year for my wife and myself."

Now, his wife - who had half her lung removed in surgery - is on the road to recovery.

"She's doing very well. She's at the stage of her recovery where she walks up the stairs now and she's trying to catch her breath."