Jim Rutledge is ... the 47-year-old rookie
He's a rookie but far from wide-eyed, a newcomer to the PGA Tour who is old. Jim Rutledge has been around the block a few times, but never in this part of the neighborhood. At 47, he is embarking a new career, although it is all so very familiar.
Welcome to the big time.
Rutledge makes his debut as a member of the PGA Tour this week at the Sony Open in Hawaii, where he will join several other first-timers, many of whom are young enough to be his son.
It is one of the beauties of golf, that players approaching AARP status can compete with ones coming out of college. So, too, is it nice that a member of the older generation can qualify for the PGA Tour after years of trying.
Rutledge will become the second-oldest rookie in PGA Tour history, surpassed by only Allen Doyle, who qualified at age 48 and is now a prolific winner on the Champions Tour. The difference? Doyle was a lifelong amateur who didn't turn pro until age 46. Rutledge turned pro at age 19, way back in 1978.
The big question: what took so long?
Rutledge has long been regarded as the best player never to make it to the PGA Tour. A Canadian from Victoria, British Columbia, he made a very good living playing on the Asian Tour, as well as toiling on the Canadian Tour and in Europe. But each year when he would attempt to make it through the PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament -- he thinks he went 13 times -- he never ended up with his card.
"My list of priorities were different a few years back," he said. "I was enjoying my time playing a lot of golf in Asia and was having success there. The PGA Tour was not at the top of my list. It became that six or seven years ago. I wanted to be closer to home."
No matter where he was, Rutledge would come home and try to qualify for the PGA Tour at the Qualifying Tournament. "It's the worst tournament in the world," he said. "I don't even like watching it on TV because of what happens to the guys."
Rutledge got to avoid it last fall because he had a successful year on the Nationwide Tour, winning once and posting four other top 10s. His 14th-place finish on the money list gave him a spot on the PGA Tour.
And here he is.
"I have played a lot of golf," he said. "Every year I've played a lot of golf. I think you learn more about yourself and your golf swing every day. I like to think, yes, I'm a better player than I was a few years ago. Maybe more experience and calmed down quite a bit with age, too ... calmed down on the golf course and just learned more about myself."
Don't be surprised to see Rutledge have some success. None other than 2003 Masters champion and fellow Canadian Mike Weir has the utmost respect for him.
"I remember my first couple of years playing the Canadian Tour, I didn't want to play with the guy," Weir said. "I thought I'd go into a tournament feeling bad, because he was so good. ... I wanted to keep my confidence up so I stayed away from him. He's a good guy and I'm really happy for him."
Rutledge is the oldest rookie, but not the only one to debut this week. Here are a few notable newcomers to the PGA Tour:
• George McNeill: So down on himself a year ago after failing at Q School, McNeill took a job as a club pro in Fort Myers, Fla. He ended up winning the 2006 Q School.
• Anthony Kim: Starred at the University of Oklahoma; at 21 he is the youngest player on the PGA Tour.
• Craig Kanada: A pro since 1991, Kanada, 38, finally made it to the big time when he chipped in on the final two holes of the Nationwide Tour Championship to win and earn his PGA Tour card.
• Johnson Wagner: A two-time winner and second-leading money winner on the Nationwide Tour in 2006, Wagner, 26, played in the 2004 U.S. Open, his only PGA Tour experience.
• Michael Putnam: A three-time All-American at Pepperdine, Putnam, 23, finished 17th on the Nationwide Tour money list last year.
• Parker McLachlin: A native of Hawaii, he attended the same high school as Michelle Wie. Made it through Q School to earn his card.
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Singh won just once in 2006, and struggled for a good part of the year with his game. He drove the ball poorly by his standards, missed the cut at the British Open and PGA Championship, and squandered a three-stroke 54-hole lead to Tiger Woods, who blew past Singh and everyone else. Perhaps the incredible run in his 40s was over? Nope. Singh showed at the Mercedes-Benz Championship that he has a lot of game left. He didn't take a break in the offseason, but instead geared up for this one. He sandwiched a workout routine around daily five-hour ball-beating sessions. And he came out and led the first tournament from start to finish. Nobody looked sharper. This week, he's at a tournament where he has won. Wouldn't it be something if he got two victories under his belt before Woods event teed it up?
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 Got a question about the PGA Tour? Ask ESPN.com golf writer Bob Harig, who will answer some inquiries in his column each week.
Q. Do you know of any successful players who are coming off injuries? A. Here are a few: David Toms had a back injury that caused him to withdraw from the U.S. Open and miss the British Open last year, although he was playing well by the end of the year. Same for Mike Weir, who had back issues. Kenny Perry missed two months due to knee surgery and never posted a top-10 finish after that. Ryan Moore had a wrist injury that required surgery and led to a funky takeaway in order for him to be able to hold the club. Pat Perez is returning from back and elbow problems.
Q. I've been hearing a lot of Stewart Cink talk -- breakout year and his first major. What are your thoughts on Cink?
A. Although he was picked for the U.S. Ryder Cup team and took Tiger Woods to a playoff at the Bridgestone Invitational in 2006, there is nothing to suggest he is headed toward his first major championship or a breakout season. It could happen, but Cink has just four PGA Tour victories, none since 2004.
Q. Will Chris DiMarco get back into the top 10 on the money list this year, or has he become just a mediocre player? A. DiMarco is far from a mediocre player, although he has underachieved in terms of PGA Tour victories. Last year DiMarco had several hurdles to overcome. A rib injury suffered while skiing lingered for several months and caused a dropoff in his game. Then his mother passed away in July. DiMarco had a runner-up finish at the British Open but finished outside of the top 30 money winners for the first time since 1999. |
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Bob Harig covers golf for the St. Petersburg Times and is a frequent contributor to ESPN.com. He can be reached at harig@sptimes.com.
