Ryan Ruffels (born 29 April 1998) is an Australian professional golfer.

Early life and amateur career

Ruffels was born in Florida to tennis professionals

Ray Ruffels Raymond Owen "Ray" Ruffels (born 23 March 1946) is an Australian former professional tennis player and coach. Playing career Ruffels was an Australian Open semi-finalist in 1968, 1969 and 1975, and a quarter-finalist in 1970 and 1977. In 1978 ...

and Anna-Maria Fernandez, but moved at a young age to southern California. His schooling was bilingual, and he is now fluent in both Spanish and English. He was an avid athlete, participating in many sports such as

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

, soccer, and golf. His two years younger sister

Gabriela Gabriela may refer to: * Gabriela (given name), a Spanish, Portuguese and Romanian feminine given name * ''Gabriela'' (1942 film), a Czech film * ''Gabriela'' (1950 film), a German film * ''Gabriela'' (1983 film), a Brazilian film * ''Gabriela' ...

also became a successful tennis player and, from 2015, golfer. winning the 2019 U.S. Women's Amateur. Ruffels moved to Australia after his father was offered a major job in Australian tennis. After moving to Australia, Ruffels focused on golf. In 2013, he was on the winning Australian team in the Ten Nations Cup. Later that year he made the cut at the Australian Open and finished in a tie for 24th. In 2014, he became the youngest winner of the

Riversdale Cup The Riversdale Cup is the second oldest amateur golf tournament in Australia. It is a Golf Australia national ranking event. The event has been played since 1896 and is organised by and played at the Riversdale Golf Club in Mount Waverley, Victoria ...

, winning the event at 15 years of age; he followed a month later with a win in the

Australian Boys' Amateur The Australian Boys' Amateur is the nations premier junior golf championship for boys. It is run by Golf Australia. It is a 72-hole stroke-play event for players under the age of 18. Until 1993 the age limit was 21. Winners Source: See also * ...

. He also won the 2014 Callaway Junior World Golf Championship. He was ranked 13th in the

World Amateur Golf Ranking The World Amateur Golf Ranking for men was introduced by The R&A, the governing body of the sport of golf outside the United States and Mexico, on 23 January 2007. It is based on the results of over 2,600 amateur tournaments per year (and amateurs p ...

when he turned professional in January 2016.

Professional career

In January 2016, at the age of 17, Ruffels turned professional, making his debut at the Farmers Insurance Open on the

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also ...

. He received the maximum seven sponsor exemptions on the PGA Tour, but failed to finish higher than 20th in any of his starts. In September, he received an invitation to the Copa Diners Club International on

PGA Tour Latinoamérica PGA Tour Latinoamérica is a third level professional golf tour formed in 2012 and operated by the PGA Tour. It was formed in concert with the now defunct Tour de las Américas. Executives from the Tour de las Américas became employees of the new ...

and finished in a tie for second. He went on to play five more Latinoamérica events and had three more top-ten finishes, causing him to finish 22nd on the Order of Merit. In 2017 he split his time between PGA Tour Latinoamérica and sponsor exemptions to PGA Tour events.

Amateur wins

*2012 Srixon International Sub-Junior *2014

, Callaway Junior World Golf Championship *2015

Source:

Team appearances

Amateur *

Eisenhower Trophy The Eisenhower Trophy (World Men's Amateur Team Championships) is the biennial World Amateur Team Championship for men organized by the International Golf Federation. Since the tournament was first played in 1958, it is named after Dwight D. Eise ...

(representing Australia):

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

* Ten Nations Cup (representing Australia): 2013 * Toyota World Junior (representing Australia): 2013 *

Australian Men's Interstate Teams Matches The Australian Men's Interstate Teams Matches were an amateur team golf competition for men between the states and territories of Australia. The event started in 1904 when New South Wales played Victoria. Until World War II the event was played a ...

(representing Victoria): 2013, 2014 (winners), 2015 (winners)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ruffels, Ryan Australian male golfers Australian people of Peruvian descent Sportsmen from Victoria (state) 1998 births Living people