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By Dave Lagarde
PGATOUR.com Correspondent

There was no better feel-good story on the Nationwide Tour than the one belonging to Jim Rutledge in 2006.

Jim Rutledge will play the next seven weeks to keep his card. (WireImage)

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• Rutledge's player page • Rutledge's 2007 results • Rutledge's 2007 stats

Here was a journeyman professional from Victoria, British Columbia, who toiled in the hinterlands for what seemed like an eternity, yet he persisted in his dogged pursuit of golf's brass ring. He was knocked down by a game that can be as cruel and capricious as any played on the face of the Earth - but was never knocked out.

Rutledge, 48, was a fixture on the Canadian Tour, where he spent too many seasons while winning six times. He tried the Asian Tour for close to a decade and the European PGA Tour as well. And he toiled on the Nationwide Tour between 2001 and 2005 without so much as getting a sniff of the winner's circle.

But Rutledge discovered there really is a benevolent golf god while competing in New Zealand last February, making the adage that good things come to those who wait ring true once again. Not that Rutledge had so much as a shred of a hint Feb. 26 would be a very special day in his life when it dawned, mind you.

The day started with Rutledge sitting in a tie for 25th in the ING New Zealand PGA Championship, nine shots behind 54-hole leader Jarrod Lyle. The deficit seemed like Everest to a guy who had one Top 10 finish in his previous 91 Nationwide Tour starts.

But darn if it didn't turn out the 92nd time was charmed -- despite the fact that winning the event never entered Rutledge's thought process.

"If I tell the truth, it wasn't even in the back of my mind,'' Rutledge said of his prospect of entering the winner's circle in Christchurch. "I wanted to put together a solid round, make a nice check and get some momentum for when the Tour came back to the States.''

But that's the real, unpredictable beauty of golf. Who can predict when some mind-bending magic will happen?

Rutledge produced a perfect final round, took full advantage of Lyle's pratfalls in a closing two-over-par 74 and finished with a pair of exclamation points, a hole-out sand wedge for an eagle 2 and a 22-foot birdie putt. His bogey free, eight-under-par 64 was good enough for a one-stroke victory over Brett Rumford.

"I got everything I wanted out of that round,'' Rutledge said.

There was the score. There was the fantastic finish. There was the winner's check for $113,684.21 that surpassed Rutledge's best season on the Nationwide Tour by $31,272. Finally, there was that incredibly satisfying thrill of victory, only the second of Rutledge's 28-year career as a pro.

The win propelled Rutledge into the Nationwide Tour's Top 20 on the final money list and meant the one thing he attempted to attain in nearly 30 years of grinding was finally his. He earned his place on the PGA TOUR in 2007, becoming the second oldest rookie in TOUR history, just a month younger than Allen Doyle.

So the tears flowed on that November Sunday in Houston. And it was difficult to tell who cried most, Rutledge or his caddie, wife Jill. They fought through this professional ordeal together, just as they battled through a very personal one, Jill's bout with cancer.

Rutledge with his winners trophy from the ING New Zealand PGA Championship (WireImage)

In the end, the Rutledges won each and are closer today than ever before even though Jill has given up on the looping as the adventure continued on golf's biggest stage.

"This season really has been good,'' Rutledge said. "Every week has been full of new experiences, new golf courses, new cities. I have Mondays to mess up and get lost.''

So imagine all the information Rutledge has had to cram into his cranium as he has traveled from sea to shining sea. Mapquest can get him to a new golf course, a new hotel and some new restaurants, but the Web site cannot help him prepare to compete against the world's best players on new tracks where he must absorb all the local knowledge in a span of approximately 36 hours before his feet are put to the fire. Rutledge has had limited knowledge of three courses in his 16 starts this season. That's not a good thing for a self-professed "slow starter.''

Rutledge made back-to-back cuts in Cancun and Houston, but only one other. He quickly lost status in the reshuffles and found himself struggling just to gain entry into events. When he did, he wasn't competitively sharp, and it showed in his results. He has made three cuts and $41,011 as he finds himself in 228th position on the money list, more than $540,000 behind Steve Allan, who is in 125th spot, the lowest a player can finish -- without winning -- and maintain status for 2008.

That's why Rutledge decided to take an extended break after the Reno-Tahoe Open in early August. It had been a while since he spent quality time with his family during the summer months and he has loved the experience. But now he knows he has seven events in the Fall Finish to maintain his job on the PGA TOUR.

"I know where I sit, and I know what I have to do,'' he said. "Seven weeks is a lot longer than I usually go out, but I have to take a shot. If it doesn't work out, I look forward to doing it all over again.''