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.The Globe and Mail, November 20, 2010 He fully qualified for the 2012 Champions Tour after finishing tied for second at qualifying school in 2011.Freeman earns medalist honors at q-school
Amateur wins 1975 Canadian Juvenile Championship 1977 Canadian Junior Championship
Professional wins (9) Asia Golf Circuit wins (1) No. DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunners-up1Mar 5, 1995Classic Indian Open−8 (69-69-74-68=280)1 stroke Daniel Chopra, Bob May
Asia Golf Circuit playoff record (0–2) No.YearTournamentOpponentsResult11994Maekyung Open Kim Jong-duck, Mike TschetterKim won with par on second extra holeRutledge eliminated by birdie on first hole21996Mitsubishi Motors Southwoods Open Don Walsworth, Manny ZermanZerman won with par on second extra holeWalsworth eliminated by par on first hole
Nationwide Tour wins (1) No. DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunners-up1Feb 26, 2006ING 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. DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunner(s)-up1Jun 11, 1989Canadian Airlines-George Williams B.C. Open−16 (65-67-71-65=268)2 strokes Rick Gibson, Carlos Espinosa2Jun 26, 1994Alberta Open−9 (68-66-69-68=271)1 stroke Roger Wessels3Aug 27, 1995Montclair Kings County Classic−8 (72-76-68-64=280)3 strokes Guy Hill, Manny Zerman
Earlier Canadian wins (3) No. DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunner(s)-up1Sep 29, 1979British Columbia Open−6 (68-68-71=210)2 strokes Dan Halldorson2Sep 13, 1981British Columbia Open (2)−13 (66-67-67=200)7 strokes Steve Berry, Dave Fowler, Mark Shushack, Gord Todd3Sep 16, 1984CPGA Championship−16 (71-65-70-66=272)6 strokes Ray Stewart
Other wins (1) 2000 Niagara Classic
Results in major championships Tournament19901991The Open ChampionshipT57CUT CUT = missed the half-way cut "T" = tied Note: Rutledge only played in The Open Championship.
Canadian national team appearances World Cup: 1984, 1995, 2006 Dunhill Cup: 1993, 1996
See also 2006 Nationwide Tour graduates
References
External links