CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand -- Jim Rutledge notched his first career Nationwide Tour victory Sunday at the ING New Zealand PGA Championship.

Rutledge made easy work of the par-72 Clearwater Golf Club with an 8-under-par 64 to finish the four-day event at 9-under-par 279, one shot in front of third-round leader Jarrod Lyle (74) and Brett Rumford (72). After beginning the day nine strokes behind Lyle, Rutledge lays claim to the third largest come-from-behind victory in Tour history.

"I couldn't be happier," said Rutledge, a 46-year-old native of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. "This is not my lowest round but I?m awfully proud of this one."

The shot of the day -- and the tournament for that matter -- was turned in by Rutledge when he holed a sand wedge from 111 yards for an eagle on the par-4 17th hole. He followed the eagle with a 25-footer for birdie on the last hole to take the clubhouse lead, almost two hours before the final group finished play.

"It was a good round until I got to No. 17 and then it turned into a great round," said Rutledge, a six-time winner on the Canadian Tour. "I was holding on to a good round and then all of a sudden the chips fell in the right spot. That is the game of golf for you."

Lyle and Rumford both entered the final hole with a chance to win or force a playoff, but both came up just short. After entering the last hole tied with Rutledge, Lyle watched his title hopes vanish when his tee shot found the hazard. Rumford, needing birdie, watched his 15-foot attempt painfully slide just by the hole.

"I'm disappointed in the finish but I'll get over it," said Lyle, who adds the runner-up finish to a strong tie for fourth finish last week at the Jacob's Creek Open Championship. "That is golf."

The fireworks by Rutledge on the final two holes capped off a bogey-free round which consisted of six birdies (Nos. 2, 3, 5, 7, 10 and 18) and the previously mentioned eagle on No. 17.

"I got off to a really good start so I knew if I could get three or four more the rest of the way then I would have a chance to win the golf tournament," said Rutledge, a Nationwide Tour member since the 2001 season. "I've worked so hard. I knew I had a good round in me and I got it all together today."

With the victory, Rutledge takes home $113,684 to climb to No. 2 on the official money list with $125,344. At 46 years and 6 months, Rutledge becomes the fifth oldest player to win on Tour and the oldest to win since Dick Mast (48 years, 6 months, 17 days) set the record at the 1999 New Mexico Classic.

With this Victory: Rutledge's nine-stroke comeback is the third largest in Tour history. The record of 10 strokes was set by John Flannery at the 1991 Reno Open and Gary Hallberg at the 2002 Northeast Pennsylvania Classic ... The victory comes in Rutledge's 92nd career start on Tour. His only previous top-10 finish was a tie for fifth at the 2004 Alberta Classic ... Rutledge is the fifth oldest player in Nationwide Tour history to win a tournament ... Rutledge becomes the 10th player from Canada to win on the Nationwide Tour, giving the country 15 overall titles. Those numbers are second only to Australia among international victories on Tour (16 players and 23 titles) ... Rutledge's victory comes in his fifth start at the ING New Zealand PGA Championship. His previous best finish was a tie for 25th a year ago ... With the $113,684 paycheck, Rutledge earned more on Sunday than in any previous season since joining the Tour in 2001 (best season in earnings was $82,412 in 2004).

Final Round News & Notes: The scoring average on Sunday was 72.343, while the cumulative scoring average this week was 73.387 ... Jarrod Lyle, who was diagnosed with leukemia in 1999, will have the opportunity to accept conditional status on the Nationwide Tour thanks to over $86,000 in earnings the past two weeks (he tied for fourth at the Jacob's Creek Open Championship and tied for second at ING New Zealand PGA Championship). He joins Michael Sim who earned conditional status with his runner-up finish last week in Adelaide ... The Nationwide Tour takes a few weeks off before traveling to Cajun Country for the Chitimacha Louisiana Open the week of March 20-26.