Canadian Jim Rutledge wins 2006 NZPGA
February 26, 2006
Canadian Jim Rutledge today earned his biggest pay cheque in his 28 years as a professional and proved golf was not just a game for the power hitters when he came from equal 25th overnight to claim the ING New Zealand PGA Championship at Clearwater.
Rutledge, 46, shot the tournament’s low score of 64, eight-under par, in the final round, but had an agonising hour-long wait before he knew if his nine-under total of 279 would be matched or bettered by any of the 24 players still on the course.
The drama intensified as the last three stood on the 18th tee, with overnight leader by two, Victorian Jarrod Lyle, and Western Australian Brett Rumford in with a chance of at least forcing a play off.
At that point, Lyle was nine-under and Rumford eight-under, but Lyle’s slumped head immediately after hitting his tee shot summed up his feelings as his drive found water down the left. Rumford drove into thick rough but played a fine approach to 6m below the hole.
Lyle’s third into the par-4 was just in the second cut pin-high and his chip for par was on target until the last few metres, rolling just by the cup. Rumford had a reasonable birdie chance up the slight slope, but his ball was off line almost from the start.
So Rutledge, from the Victoria Golf Club in British Columbia, was a most unlikely winner by one from the two Australians with another countryman Wade Ormsby a shot back in fourth place.
Although successful six times on the Canadian Tour, it was Rutledge’s first significant win since the 1995 Indian Open on the Asian tour and the first prizemoney in the $US600,000 tournament of $US108,000 was more than double what he pocketed from any other finish.
What was even more remarkable about the win was that Rutledge’s name hardly featured on the leaderboard until the closing holes. Despite a four-under front nine, he was still three behind the co-leaders Lyle and Rumford and two behind Ormsby.
Rutledge, who made the cut in 17 of his 22 starts on last year’s Nationwide Tour, birdied the 10th but then he had six straight pars before he produced the spectacular on the two of the hardest holes, the par-4 17th and par-4 18th.
He holed his wedge for an eagle at 17 then holed his 7m birdie putt from off the green at the last.
"I can’t ask for any more than that," Rutledge said of his sensational finish. "I never looked at the scoreboard all day but I knew I was creeping up there, hopefully. It was a big moment the way I finished.
"At the 17th I had 111 yards with a little bit of down wind left to right. A sand wedge was the perfect club for me so I hit to the middle of the green and spun it in the hole.
"At 18 I had to putt through about 5ft of fringe with another 15 to 18ft to the hole. I figured if I got it rolling right to the fringe the rest would take care of itself for the green was very fast going from right to left. I got it on a good line and weight."
Rutledge said Clearwater was a course that needed accuracy and patience and that played to his strength.
"On a course like this you don’t need distance, you need accuracy. You need to position your shot off the tee and into the greens. Some courses we play are bombers’ course but here you can get into trouble in the rough.
"This is a good course. It’s come into its own in the last few years and is starting to mature."
Lyle, 24, admitted he was gutted when he hit his tee shot at the last.
"I knew it was a little too far left. But I had my chance before that on the back nine and left a couple of putts a few inches short. You have to take advantage of those opportunities.
"Still second is nothing to sneeze at and if I keep putting myself into a winning position in tournaments then down the track I will win one."
Lyle soon has to make a career decision. After finishing tied for fourth at the Jacob’s Creek Open and now finishing equal second at Clearwater, he has earned enough money to get an exemption for the Nationwide tour in the United States from May 1. At present he has been playing the Asian tour.
David Smail was the leading New Zealander at Clearwater for the second time with a fine final round of four-under 68, the only blemish coming at the last when a rare lapse off the tee had him in a fairway bunker.
He caught the sand shot heavy and was unable to reach the green with his second. He pitched 5m past the hole and was unable to slot the par putt..
It was a disappointing end to an otherwise memorable round for Smail, who consistently kept out of trouble and putted much better than he had on Saturday when his title aspirations nose-dived after a two-over 74 which included four three-putts and 36 in total.
This time he needed only 29.
"All in all it was a pretty good week for me. It was a week of 'maybes and could have been' and it could have been different but for those four three-putts on Saturday. But I played pretty solid throughout."
Smail now intends having a five-week break back home with his family in Hamilton before returning to his regular Japan tour where he will play about 21 tournaments. He is hoping for a start in either the British Open or United States Open.
Smail finished 10th equal on four-under 284. Of the other Kiwis to make the cut, Michael Long was second best on two-under par 286 after a par round to finish. Steven Alker, who also had par today, was on one-under 287 along with former New Zealand Open champion Mahal Pearce, while Phil Tataurangi and Gareth Paddison finished on three-over 291 and tied for 49th.
|
