Canada's Jim Rutledge shows what pro golf and determination are all about

While professional golf is so often defined by the best in the game, whether it be Tiger Woods’ continued domination of the men’s game, or Lorena Ochoa’s ascendancy to the top of the LPGA, pro golf is so much more that just the big names with the best games.

One need look to Canada, where Victoria’s favorite son Jim Rutledge has earned his PGA Tour card after a 2006 campaign on the Nationwide Tour that saw him finish No. 14 on the money list (the top-20 overall finishers get their Tour card).

Then look at Rutledge’s birth certificate and check his age - 47.

In finally achieving his goal of playing on the PGA Tour fulltime, Rutledge will becomes the second-oldest rookie in the tour’s history, and culminate a journey that began in 1978, and saw him falter at Q-School 13 times. This year, however, he put things together on the Nationwide Tour to the tune of a victory, four top-10 finishes and more than $250,000 in earnings to finally clear the ultimate hurdle, and give him the chance to spend 2007 in the world’s top golf league.

“He’s one of the heartwarming stories on the Nationwide this year,” the Golf Channel’s Brian Anderson said.

And Rutledge is a reason that pro golf is so much more than the big names.

–WKW