Ryan

Ruffels

Ruffels entered the pro golf scene at a very young age, with a lot of hype in his corner. He’s yet to live up to that hype but he’s still not even at an age to be able to legally rent a car, so there is still time for the Aussie. Ruffels went 5-for-17 on the Korn Ferry circuit last season with three top 25s also serving as his only top 45s of the season. To play his way in this week, he carded a 7-under 65 on Monday and then won the 6-for-1 playoff over Ricky Barnes, Gavin Cohen, Kyle Westmoreland, Sam Triplett, and Bhavik Patel. This will be his first start in a PGA TOUR event since the 2019 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

The 20-year-old, in on a sponsor invite, is making his second appearance after T60 on debut in 2016 in his second pro start. He was T10 at the midpoint, 67(PB)-70(SH), before fading on the weekend with 73(MP) and 78(PB). This is the Aussie’s 19th career TOUR event, first since a missed cut by five at the 2018 Wells Fargo (78-72). Overall, he’s cashed 10 times with one top 25, at T20 at the 2016 Zurich Classic, which was reduced to 54 holes due to inclement weather and before it was a team event.

The Aussie is in need of a big finish this week and it looked dreary early on, squaring bogeys in two of his first four holes. He bounced back nicely with a three-hole birdie train, starting at the par-5 seventh hole. The caboose on that train was a 22'9" hole out from just off the green. Ruffels would play the inward nine at a bogey-free, 4-under clip. There are many scenarios that would help keep his dreams of earning PGA TOUR or Web.com Tour status alive, but a poor finish would lead him to the Monday Qualifying route for the remainder of the season.

The 18-year-old continues his journey to PGA TOUR status but like so many before him, realizing it may not be so easy. He is 3-for-6 on the season, with just one finish inside the top 40. That happened to come in his latest start, a T20 at the weather-shortened Zurich Classic. The upside remains through the roof, but he’ll need to find a big week soon or he’ll be taking his talents to the Web.com Tour or European Tour in order to hone his craft.

The Orlando-born 18-year-old is playing this week on a sponsor’s invite and taking full advantage on day one. Ruffels split nine (of 14) fairways on his way toward 12 greens in regulation. The scoring club turned out to be the flat stick, though, splashing home three putts from outside 11 feet. The longest was a 31'8" birdie bomb at the par-4 18th, helping him gain 2.502 strokes putting on the day. The Australian phenom is currently playing on the PGA TOUR Latinoamerica circuit, but should make his way to the PGA TOUR very soon. A big finish this week would go a long way towards achieving that, as he’ll use sponsor’s invites and Monday qualifiers for the remainder of the season as he tries to play his way into a status upgrade.

Playing on sponsor invites in 2016, the young Aussie exhausted all of those invites without earning the FedExCup Points needed to gain status. He was 4-for-7 on the season but T20 was the most top-heavy the results got. After he use all up his PGA TOUR invites, he took his talents to the PGA TOUR Latinoamerica where he posted four top 10s in six starts and has kicked off 2017 with a T37 and T12 on that same circuit. The 18-year-old may have missed the mark in his first attempt at PGA TOUR status, but he certainly has the pedigree to play his way onto the big stage. A big finish this week would go along way for Ruffels in terms of confidence as well as inching closer to his goal of playing on the PGA TOUR. Last year in his API debut, he posted rounds of 72-73=145 to finish T77 for the week.

The talented young Aussie is joining forces with ball-striking extraordinaire, Kyle Stanley, for this week’s team event in Avondale, Louisiana. While Stanley carries a third-place finish on his Zurich Classic resume (2013), Ruffels’ resume isn’t too shabby either. He finished T20 during last year’s weather-shortened edition, his debut at TPC Louisiana. Ruffels has represented Australia at the Toyota World Junior, Ten Nations Cup, and Eisenhower Trophy as an amateur, so the team format shouldn’t be new to him. With FedExCup Points up for grabs, the soon-to-be 19-year-old would love to throw his name into the mix this week. He is honing his craft on the PGA TOUR Latinoamerica circuit, but he’s too talented to be without a PGA TOUR card for much longer.

In on a sponsor’s invite, the 19-year-old Aussie could use a big week as he tries to play his way into TOUR status. At the moment he’s playing on the PGA TOUR Latinoamerica, but should play his way onto the big stage sooner rather than later. In 10 career PGA TOUR starts he’s pocketed just one top 25 but he’s been inside the top 15 after R1 in 50% of those starts. The talent is surely there for Ruffels, he just needs to apply the pressure for the entire week. Gamers should treat him as a hail-mary type play this week with a lot of upside but low probability of success.

This is the Aussie’s second RBC after T87/MDF in 2015 as an amateur. It’s his 14th career TOUR start, sixth this season, all on sponsor exemptions, and can have a max of seven sponsor invites. The 19-year-old has cashed two times, a T29 teamed with Kyle Stanley at the Zurich, and a T56 at the Arnold Palmer. He also has two runner-ups in five events on the PGA TOUR Latinoamerica, and has six total top 10s in his last 11 events on the circuit, five of those top 5s. The Orlando native opened in Canada with a six-birdie one-bogey 67 and duplicated that output in R2 on six (of 14) fairways and 11 greens in regulation. He posted 1.384 SG: Tee-to-Green and 2.846 SG: Putting, needing just 25 total putts.

After kicking off with twin 67s, the Aussie began T5 and that’s where he currently resides following a six-birdie two-bogey effort. He mustered six (of 14) fairways and 11 greens in regulation, losing 2.451 strokes off-the-tee and 0.686 around-the-green. However, the 19-year-old posted 1.935 SG: Approach-the-Green and 2.897 SG: Putting, the clubhouse leader in SGP with a cumulative 6.977. He squared back-to-backs at 13 and 14, both after trouble off the tee, offset by circles at 2, 5, 7, 9, 16 and 17, all from inside of 13 feet. The non-member also knocked in three par-savers from between eight and 17 feet.