Children's Miracle Network Classic round four: It's Canada's second coming

Stephen Ames is not the world’s greatest scrambler. Until the weekend he was 123rd in the PGA Tour scrambling table. Sunday he vaulted 37 places, an achievement sealed by that match-winning effort of the last hole. You can imagine a little tightening of the muscles as he contemplated the difficult third shot out of the bunker, knowing he needed par to avoid a playoff with Tim Clark. The execution was class, the outcome fully deserved.

So the season’s roll of honour ends with two Canadians, two Swedes, two Australians (they’ll call it Finchem’s ark if we’re not careful!), an Irishman, a Korean, a South African, an Argentinian, a Fijian and more Americans than you can shake a 9-iron at. And not a single Brit. But I’ll come to that later.

A third second place of the season surely suggests Clark cannot be far away from a win, but it’s going to have to come in his head first. Clark knows he’s an excellent player, I think he just doesn’t quite believe in himself as a winner. It really beggars belief how someone as gifted as him can struggle to win, yet Brian Bateman can grab first prize in a season where otherwise he hasn’t finished higher than 37th and has missed the cut in half the tournaments he has played (guess what, he missed again at Disney).

So a nail-biting climax to what has been a dull end of season. With the lead constantly switching, I can’t imagine how anyone could have lost money playing the market Sunday, although clearly someone must have.

Players are right to say the Fall Series hasn’t just been a washout weather-wise. For all its excitement, this last tournament couldn’t even get anywhere near the £1m threshold in the Betfair winner market. But what should we expect? The Players seem to blame the FedEx Cup, but that was a smart move to sharpen interest after the majors and provide a fitting climax to the “real” PGA Tour season. Let’s face it, the official season is too long and there’s lots of other distractions as we head into autumn, not to mention the poorer weather and the mediocre fields scrabbling after the Tour’s qualification crumbs. ‘Twas ever thus.

I still think something could be done to turn the whole qualification process into another watchable, knockout cliffhanger over a few weeks, as well as a good showcase of up-and-coming talent. It’s all a bit understated and haphazard as it is.

PS: For all the criticisms of the Fall Series, what a “last day of the season” Sunday turned out to be, with all the excitement across the pond at Valderrama. That of course is where the Europeans have an edge over the US Tour - they don’t have one player that’s so much better than the rest any showdown has an inevitable result. So the Order of Merit went down almost to the wire - right to the wire in fact, in that Justin Rose was adamant he wanted to win it with a tournament victory rather than “by default". Despite draining away his four-shot lead on Sunday, Rose marked a new chapter in his life by keeping his nerve to win the playoff in a truly big event. I join the nation’s rejoicing at his success and ascent into the world’s top 10.

But the really big targets are still out there for Justin (and Britain): victory in the majors and on the US Tour. They should come, but like Clark I believe Rose still has to win a battle in his head, one of believing not that he’s a great player, but a winner.

I don’t think Sunday’s win quite nails that. Let’s face it, that final playoff putt was the difference between hailing a great hero or hammering the biggest bottler in Christendom. And the US Tour is that bit tougher and more unforgiving of weakness - unless you’re Brian Bateman of course.

PPS: Is that it? Phew! I’m finally off for some R&R. Short of the odd comment, that’s me for the year. I’ve really enjoyed it and many thanks to those who have responded in any way. To quote Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, it’s been emotional.