Los Altos Golf Company

Ames sank a six-foot birdie to claim the trophy Ames, playing his first Skins Game, rolled in a birdie on the third play-off hole, to seal the win.Five-time winner Fred Couples settled for second ahead of John Daly and defending champion Fred Funk.In the Skins game, players compete for money on each pin but if a hole is tied the money carries over to the next.With money still to be won after the 18th hole, all four players went into a play-off, where a rule change means only players with the lowest scores

stay in the hunt.Ames and Daly birded the second play-off hole to eliminate Couples and Funk and play on.But Daly, who won only one skin all weekend, drove into a fairway bunker on the next extra hole and Ames, who qualified for the event by winning The Players Championship, sunk a birdie to take the honours.Couples played the best golf of the foursome, carding 10 birdies and an eagle, and picked up $385,000 for his troubles.Daly’s single skin gave him $25,000 while Funk failed to win a single skin and went home empty-handed.Funk will draw some consolation, however, from his hi-jinks at The Trilogy Golf Club. He replaced Daly’s ball on the sixth green with a remote-control ball and then served as Daly’s caddy on the 12th tee, where he handed him a huge wedge and a child’s iron.