Bud Cauley broke through for his first PGA Tour victory at TPC Toronto.
VAUGHN RIDLEY, GETTY IMAGES
Bud Cauley’s long road to redemption has finally ended.
Cauley waded through a rain-soaked Sunday at TPC Toronto to win the RBC Canadian Open by two strokes, his first PGA Tour victory in 239 career starts. The victory was the culmination of Cauley’s remarkable eight-year comeback from a life-threatening car accident that almost ended his career.
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Zack Fischer
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Filip Mruzek
EPSON TOUR
Lauryn Nguyen
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Zach Johnson
LEGENDS TOUR
Simon Griffiths
PGA TOUR AMERICAS
Drew Doyle
Although he stands a mere 5-foot-7, Cauley proved to be the tallest man on the course when the pressure intensified. Beginning the day only a shot back, he turned at 14-under, tied with tour sophomore Jackson Suber and a resurgent Jimmy Stanger.
With all three players hungrily searching for their maiden victory, Cauley wasted no time separating from the pack. The University of Alabama alum rattled off a trio of birdies on Nos. 11-13, including an electric pitch-in out of deep fescue to seize the solo lead at the 12th.
“That one was nice,” chuckled Cauley after his round. “I’m just very proud of the way I kind of kept going and continued to make birdies there on the back nine.”
He tacked on another birdie at the dogleg 15th, draining a 15-foot putt. The inspired run afforded Cauley a comfortable three-shot cushion over Matt Fitzpatrick, who punctuated his final-round 64 with an eagle at 18 to post 15-under.
The final stretch was more stressful than this margin would suggest. Despite a bunker-induced bogey at the 17th and a remarkably intense final hole that saw Cauley hustle to mark his ball as it teetered on the edge of disaster, he carded a comfortable par for 17-under 263 that secured a victory 15 years in the making.
“So many people helped me get here,” Cauley said. “I’m just, I’m so happy.”
In a day filled with mostly unflappable ball-striking, Cauley’s only real brush with danger came at the long par-4 16th. A quick swing sent his ball flying right towards certain doom, only for it to strike a fortuitously placed golf cart and ricochet laterally into a fantastic position. However, after the hardship Cauley has endured, a few lucky bounces are certainly in order.
After playing for the Crimson Tide, Cauley turned professional in 2011 to modest success. He built a reputation among his peers as a hard worker, becoming one of the most liked members on tour in the process. His former Alabama roommate Justin Thomas has frequently sung Cauley’s praises, even going so far as to call him one of the most underrated players in professional golf.
However, Cauley’s career was catastrophically derailed following a car accident during the 2018 Memorial Tournament. He suffered six broken ribs, a broken leg, and a collapsed lung in the incident, requiring complex reconstructive surgery and the installation of metal plates in his rib cage.
“I think my perspective has changed and my priorities I think are in order. [Golf’s] not the most important thing in the world to me, but it is very important.”
Bud Cauley
While he miraculously returned to competition later that same year, latent health complications from the crash drastically limited his success and schedule. In this competitive void, though, Cauley became a family man. He married his girlfriend, Kristi, and became a father to two young children. It was a seismic lifestyle shift that Cauley says ended up helping him perform on the course.
“I think my perspective has changed and my priorities I think are in order,” Cauley said in a pre-tournament news conference. “[Golf’s] not the most important thing in the world to me, but it is very important.”
While Cauley took center stage, Fitzpatrick finished second and Viktor Hovland (closing 65 for 266) was third. Meanwhile, Brooks Koepka surprised the field with a late withdrawal on Sunday morning, citing a hand injury that developed during his third round.
“I don't know what it is,” Koepka told the media on Saturday. “I'm struggling to grip the club with my ring finger and pinkie finger.”
The ailment arrives at an unfortunate moment for the five-time major champion, with his game finally rounding into form and the U.S. Open returning this week to Shinnecock Hills, where he won in 2018. Koepka flashed glimpses of his old self at TPC Toronto, particularly on the greens – his first-round 64 was buoyed by his hottest putting performance since he returned to the PGA Tour from LIV Golf earlier this year.
The Open Championship continued to dangle the carrot of qualification in front of the tour’s rank and file, with three spots to be awarded to the top Canadian Open finishers not already exempt for the year’s final major. Suber and Swede Jesper Svensson, who finished T4, punched their ticket to Royal Birkdale along with Cauley.
Daniel Polce
