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Jim Rutledge

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Jim Rutledge
Personal information
Full nameJames Edgar Rutledge
Born (1959-08-26) August 26, 1959 (age 65)
Victoria, British Columbia
Height5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight180 lb (82 kg; 13 st)
Sporting nationality Canada
Career
Turned professional1978
Former tour(s)PGA Tour
European Tour
Asian Tour
Asia Golf Circuit
Nationwide Tour
Canadian Tour
Champions Tour
Professional wins9
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour of Australasia1
Korn Ferry Tour1
Other8
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentDNP
PGA ChampionshipDNP
U.S. OpenDNP
The Open ChampionshipT57: 1990

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

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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

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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

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  • 1975 Canadian Juvenile Championship
  • 1977 Canadian Junior Championship

Professional wins (9)

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Asia Golf Circuit wins (1)

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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 Sweden Daniel Chopra, United States Bob May

Asia Golf Circuit playoff record (0–2)

No. Year Tournament Opponents Result
1 1994 Maekyung Open South Korea Kim Jong-duck, United States Mike Tschetter Kim won with par on second extra hole
Rutledge eliminated by birdie on first hole
2 1996 Mitsubishi Motors Southwoods Open United States Don Walsworth, Italy Manny Zerman Zerman won with par on second extra hole
Walsworth eliminated by par on first hole

Nationwide Tour wins (1)

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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 Australia Brett Rumford, Australia Jarrod Lyle

1Co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour of Australasia

Canadian Tour wins (3)

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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 Canada Rick Gibson, Mexico Carlos Espinosa
2 Jun 26, 1994 Alberta Open −9 (68-66-69-68=271) 1 stroke South Africa Roger Wessels
3 Aug 27, 1995 Montclair Kings County Classic −8 (72-76-68-64=280) 3 strokes United States Guy Hill, South Africa Manny Zerman

Earlier Canadian wins (3)

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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 Canada Dan Halldorson
2 Sep 13, 1981 British Columbia Open (2) −13 (66-67-67=200) 7 strokes Canada Steve Berry, United States Dave Fowler,
Canada Mark Shushack, Canada Gord Todd
3 Sep 16, 1984 CPGA Championship −16 (71-65-70-66=272) 6 strokes Canada Ray Stewart

Other wins (1)

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  • 2000 Niagara Classic

Results in major championships

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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

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ The Globe and Mail, November 20, 2010
  2. ^ Freeman earns medalist honors at q-school
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