Lorne Rubenstein | |
An upclose look at Jim Rutledge
December 5th, 2006
There was no shortage of compelling stories as the PGA Tour's qualifying school ended Monday. That happens every year, so it's a what else is new story? Kudos to George McNeill, the medalist, for making it through on his ninth try after quitting his job as assistant pro at the Forest Country Club in Ft. Myers, Fla., and sympathies to two-time U.S. Open champion Lee Janzen for missing out. You want emotion, the PGA Tour final Q-school had it all.
 Photo: © Steve Levin/WireImage |
It took Jim Rutledge numerous trips to Q-school but at the age of 47 he finally will make it onto the PGA Tour in 2007 takes to his play on the Nationwide Tour. |
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But maybe the best story was about a guy who wasn't even in Q-school. That's because Jim Rutledge made it to the 2007 PGA Tour by finishing 14th on the Nationwide Tour's money list, and, at 47, he'll be the second-oldest rookie when the big show starts next month. Allen Doyle was 48 when he made it, although he didn't turn pro until he was 46.
Rut, as his fellow pros around the world, where he's played forever, know him, had tried to make it through qualifying school 16 times. Or was it 12 times, or 14? Even Rutledge, who lives in Victoria, B.C. doesn't remember. One thing he's grateful for: He didn't have to go through the ordeal again this year.
Maybe he made it via the Nationwide Tour because he read Gio Valiante's book Fearless Golf earlier this year. At least Rutledge said the book made a difference to him. Or maybe it's because the message Pam Barnett had been conveying go him really did sink in. Barnett teaches at Moon Valley Golf Club in Phoenix, and she'd preached something rather simple.
"She told me to keep swinging it," Rutledge said.
So swing it and wing it he did this year. He played fearless golf and he got off to a heck of a start when he won the ING New Zealand Championship in February. That's a Nationwide Tour event, and it gave him a long leg up on finishing in the top 20 on the money list.
Photo: © Topic/WireImage | | Jim Rutledge after winning the New Zealand PGA Championship earlier this year. |
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Rutledge has been a terrific player for a long time, notwithstanding his inability to make it to the PGA Tour. His fellow players have long been aware of his natural talent. Mike Weir, his fellow Canadian and the 2003 Masters champion, spoke during last September's Canadian Open of his early meetings with
Rutledge.
"I remember my first couple of years playing the Canadian Tour, I didn't want to play a practice round with the guy. I thought I'd go in a tournament and feel bad, because he was so good. He'd hit it so great, I'd hit it all over the place, scrambling around, and shooting these scores. Rutledge was just piping it down the middle. I wanted to keep my confidence up so I stayed away from him. He's a good guy, he has a great family and I'm really happy for him.
Rutledge, who turned pro when he was 19, always swung the club beautifully, with great rhythm. Some people figured he wasn't aggressive enough or didn't want to make it to the PGA Tour badly enough. But he kept on keeping on, and that's something in itself. He did so through some tough times, too.
For one major trial, his wife Jill was diagnosed with breast cancer four years ago. Rutledge naturally took a lot of time away from golf to be with her. She's been in remission for a few years now, and has even been caddying for her husband. She caddied for him at the Nationwide Tour's Tour Championship that closed the season this year. For a tight couple, look no further than Jim and Jill.
She's been with him everywhere and anywhere, across Canada, on the Asian Tour and the European Tour. He won the 1979 British Columbia Open, the 1984 Canadian PGA Championship, and didn't even seem to be in contention when he began the final round in New Zealand last winter. Rutledge was nine shots out of the lead, but then he started making magic.
Rutledge holed a sand wedge on the par-5, 17th hole for an eagle, and birdied the last hole from 25 feet. He'd shot 64, and how had to wait to see what would transpire. What do you know, he won, and picked up close to $114,000. Nice start to what would turn into a super year for the golfer many of his colleagues felt was the best player not to have made it to the PGA Tour.
Did he ever get depressed during all his years of playing around the world without a full season with his PGA Tour card?
"I only got depressed when we faced the medical issues at home with my wife and lost a few people in the family," he said. In fact, his wife's father was undergoing chemotherapy for his own cancer while Jill was going through the treatment. They went through the treatments together, but her father lost the battle.
Golf would never matter as much to Rutledge, or his wife. But still, it did matter. When he realized he'd probably get his PGA Tour card, he and Jill sometimes looked back at where they'd been, what they'd seen and learned.
"My wife and I start laughing about it, that we waited all this time and we tried and tried," he said. "The biggest thing was winning early [this year] and knowing I was halfway there and just had to play some good golf. On the other hand, I wouldn't look back and say I haven't enjoyed doing what I've done. I loved player all over Europe and Asia. Now it's time to come closer to home."
Rutledge will partner Weir in this week's World Golf Championships World Cup in Barbados. He and Jill and their teenage son Ryan are one happy family, but then they've always been that way. This is a feel-good story, and wouldn't it be something if Rutledge and Weir won this week?
Whatever happens in Barbados or during the 2007 PGA Tour, Rutledge won't change. He knows golf is one tough sport, and that it's bigger than he is. Maybe that's why he's always treated people well.
"It's been such a long time," he said. "I appreciate the nice things people say and write. I've seen the way some other players act. It doesn't become them, and it comes back to haunt you."
Here's Rutledge's philosophy in a few words.
"Golf takes a lot out of you. You can't do anything about it, but at least you can keep playing."
He said that in February 1984. Nothing's changed. The 47-year old PGA Tour pro Jim Rutledge was one of the game's good guys then, and he's one of the game's good guys now.
"It shows he was determined and he's always had a tremendous amount of talent," Weir said of his World Cup partner.
Feel good? Rutledge feels great, and looks forward to a new beginning in an old career. It's an old career, but it's aging rather well.
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