At 17, Ryan Ruffels turned pro—a decision he now calls his biggest mistake. He started playing golf at just 11 after a powerful performance at a local tournament. While starting young may seem like an advantage, the Florida native believes it is ultimately a curse. Speaking on Parker McLachlin’s YouTube channel, he explained why turning pro so early was the biggest regret of his career. 

“I would probably say don’t turn pro at 17, to be honest,” he said. “I think I was a good enough player when you look at just all the individual aspects of a golf game. But there’s so much that goes into playing on the PGA Tour, any tour.”

Ruffels was a standout junior who moved to Australia as a kid and quickly rose in golf. By 15, he had made the cut at the Australian Open, become the youngest Riversdale Cup winner, claimed the Australian Boys’ Amateur, and won the Callaway Junior World Championship. However, his professional career never capitalized on that early promise. 

He made a few cuts in those early PGA Tour starts but never earned full status, bouncing between the PGA Tour, the Korn Ferry Tour, and lower tours without a win. And Ruffels blames that on turning pro so early.

“I think the reactiveness of a teenager is what got me in trouble,” he added.
“Instead of staying the course and being like, ‘Okay, I’ve had all the success up to this point, and I’ve played a certain way, and I’ve been able to compete in these things’… it becomes very reactive. I’ve had six months of not playing the way I want to. I didn’t get my card on the PGA Tour. I missed a second stage of Q School.”

He played 22 PGA Tour events, 51 starts on the Korn Ferry Tour, and additional events on PGA Tour Latinoamérica, the Challenge Tour, and other developmental circuits. Yet he has zero professional wins. Despite that, he won The Q Finale in Myrtle Beach, earning a place in the PGA Tour’s 2026 oneFlight Myrtle Beach Classic.

Although he finished T45 at the event, Ruffels failed to make the cut at the Rocket Classic. Still, he hasn’t given up on his goal and continues to pursue a full-time career on the PGA Tour. 

“I’m now looking at playing Latin America next year or Canada or something like that in my second year as a pro, which, in all honesty, that’s exactly what I needed. I needed to go to one of those tours, play out there, prove myself, win, finish high on the order of merits, and then get myself to the Korn Ferry Tour, then move on and be out on the PGA Tour by 20 years old.”

While that hadn’t happened, Ruffels turned to YouTube after the financial demands of professional golf and loss of his status made competing difficult. Through The Lads, the content group he helped launch alongside Jason Day, and his own channel, Ruffels has built a significant audience while continuing to pursue competitive golf.