Jim Rutledge admits the chance to tee it up at the 2016 Pacific Links Bear Mountain Championship will be an opportunity of a lifetime.
The Victoria native was officially welcomed Tuesday into the field for the PGA Tour Champions event, slated for Sept. 19-25 at Bear Mountain Golf Resort’s Mountain Course, nestled in Langford, where he will join the likes of Bernhard Langer, Colin Montgomerie and the ever popular John Daly.
Rutledge, who turns 57 next week, gladly accepted a sponsors’ exemption into the event that carries a total purse of $2.5 million US, with $440,000 going to the winner.
“Obviously, it’s a thrill, especially amongst that calibre of players. You can drop these guys anywhere and they’re going to shoot some great scores. It’ll be a great field,” he said. “It’s always nice to play at home, especially to sleep in your own bed, that’s for sure, so I’m really looking forward t it.
“I’ve played the golf course a couple of times in the last couple of weeks and it’s in really good shape. I think all the guys are coming and all the fans are really going to enjoy the week.”
None more than Rutledge, who has struggled to get things going in 2016. Having lost his full playing privileges at the end of last season, the popular Canadian has had to Monday-qualify his way into Champions Tour events. Rutledge has played in just three, making $21,475 along the way.
In early May, he recorded rounds of 77-76-72 to finish tied for 59th at the Insperity Invitational in Texas. In late June, he was tied for 44th after rounds of 70-74-66 at the American Family Insurance Championship in Madison, Wisconsin.
Two weeks later he Monday-qualified again to get into the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open in Endicott, New York, where he tied for 39th after rounds of 75-72-69.
He also played in the Bayview Place Island Savings Open presented by Times Colonist event on PGA Tour Canada — at his home course, Uplands Golf Club, in June — and missed the cut there.
“This year has been a little lean for me,” Rutledge said on a conference call on Wednesday. “I haven’t had many tournaments. I’ve had to Monday-qualify because I lost my status and those are tournaments in themselves.
“You have to play very aggressively, you might say, to get in those because there are only four or five spots [open to qualify into the PGA Tour Champions event] when you have anywhere from 30 to 50 guys [competing]. I was fortunate enough to play in a couple of tournaments. I’m looking forward to earning some momentum. As long as you can get into tournaments and keep going, then your game can only improve.”
He wants desperately to get back to competing for top-10 finishes, as he did in his first five years where he recorded nine top-10s on the seniors’ tour, earning more than $1.3 million over that span.
Since turning pro in 1978, Rutledge won six times on PGA Tour Canada, including three victories in the British Columbia Open. He went on to play the Web.com Tour, the European Tour and the Asian Tour before settling on PGA Tour Champions in 2010.
And it would be perfect if he could challenge at home.
