James Edgar Rutledge (born August 26, 1959) is a Canadian professional golfer. He has played on the Canadian Tour, Asia Golf Circuit, Nationwide Tour, PGA Tour, and Champions Tour.
Early life
Rutledge was born in Victoria, British Columbia. He won the Canadian Juvenile Championship in 1975 at the Gorge Vale Golf Club in Victoria and the Canadian Junior Championship in 1977.
Professional career
In 1978, Rutledge turned professional. For the first 20 years of his career, Rutledge would play in Asia in the winter and in Canada for the rest of the year. He did not do this from 1988 to 1992 though. During that time Rutledge was a member of the European Tour, where his best finish on the Order of Merit came in 1990 when he finished in 55th, earning £75,274. He played in his first major at the 1990 Open Championship, where he was high on the leaderboard going into the weekend, but ended up finishing T-57. He played in his second and last major the following year at the 1991 Open Championship but he missed the cut. Rutledge's best finish on the Asia Golf Circuit Order of Merit was third in 1994 and 1995. He has finished third on the Canadian Tour's Order of Merit three times. He is one of the winningest players in Canadian Tour history, winning six times on tour.
Rutledge was a member of the Nationwide Tour between 2001 and 2009, except for 2007 when he was a member of the PGA Tour. Rutledge's first Nationwide Tour win in 2006 at the ING New Zealand PGA Championship, helped him finish in 14th on the money list, which earned him his PGA Tour card for 2007. As the second oldest rookie in the history of the PGA Tour, he was not able to retain his tour card. Rutledge only made 5 of 23 cuts, with his best finish coming at the Mayakoba Golf Classic at Riviera Maya-Cancun where he finished T-31. He does not play in Asia anymore but still plays on the Canadian Tour.
After turning 50 on August 26, 2009, Rutledge has made several appearances on the Champions Tour, with some success. He earned conditional exempt status for the 2011 Champions Tour season, by finishing eighth at the final qualifying school tournament on November 19, 2010. Only the top five players in that event gained full status for 2011.[1] He fully qualified for the 2012 Champions Tour after finishing tied for second at qualifying school in 2011.[2]
Amateur wins
- 1975 Canadian Juvenile Championship
- 1977 Canadian Junior Championship
Professional wins (9)
Asia Golf Circuit wins (1)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory |
Runners-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mar 5, 1995 | Classic Indian Open | −8 (69-69-74-68=280) | 1 stroke |  Daniel Chopra,  Bob May
|
Asia Golf Circuit playoff record (0–2)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponents | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1994 | Maekyung Open |  Kim Jong-duck, Mike Tschetter
|
Kim won with par on second extra hole Rutledge eliminated by birdie on first hole |
| 2 | 1996 | Mitsubishi Motors Southwoods Open | Don Walsworth,  Manny Zerman
|
Zerman won with par on second extra hole Walsworth eliminated by par on first hole |
Nationwide Tour wins (1)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory |
Runners-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Feb 26, 2006 | ING New Zealand PGA Championship1 | −9 (75-68-72-64=279) | 1 stroke |  Brett Rumford, Jarrod Lyle
|
1Co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour of Australasia
Canadian Tour wins (3)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory |
Runner(s)-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jun 11, 1989 | Canadian Airlines-George Williams B.C. Open | −16 (65-67-71-65=268) | 2 strokes |  Rick Gibson,  Carlos Espinosa
|
| 2 | Jun 26, 1994 | Alberta Open | −9 (68-66-69-68=271) | 1 stroke |  Roger Wessels
|
| 3 | Aug 27, 1995 | Montclair Kings County Classic | −8 (72-76-68-64=280) | 3 strokes | Guy Hill, Manny Zerman
|
Earlier Canadian wins (3)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory |
Runner(s)-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sep 29, 1979 | British Columbia Open | −6 (68-68-71=210) | 2 strokes | Dan Halldorson
|
| 2 | Sep 13, 1981 | British Columbia Open (2) | −13 (66-67-67=200) | 7 strokes | Steve Berry, Dave Fowler, Mark Shushack, Gord Todd
|
| 3 | Sep 16, 1984 | CPGA Championship | −16 (71-65-70-66=272) | 6 strokes | Ray Stewart
|
Other wins (1)
- 2000 Niagara Classic
Results in major championships
| Tournament | 1990 | 1991 |
|---|---|---|
| The Open Championship | T57 | CUT |
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
Note: Rutledge only played in The Open Championship.
Canadian national team appearances
See also
References
- ^ The Globe and Mail, November 20, 2010
- ^ Freeman earns medalist honors at q-school
External links
- Jim Rutledge at the PGA Tour official site
- Jim Rutledge at the European Tour official site
- Jim Rutledge at the Official World Golf Ranking official site
- Article from Sports Illustrated