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Bud Cauley's victory at the Canadian Open caps a long difficult road back from a life-threatening car accident that cost him more than three years of his career.
Cauley, who moved to Palm Beach Gardens more than a decade ago, won for the first time on the PGA Tour in his 239th start. The victory comes eight years after a car crash that left him with five broken ribs, a broken left leg and a collapsed lung.
A series of complications forced him to miss more than three years, much of it dealing with pain. He regained his PGA Tour card at The Players Championship in 2025 by finishing in a tie for sixth place.
More golf: Brooks Koepka withdraws from Canadian Open with mysterious hand injury
Cauley, whose highest finish in a PGA Tour event prior to winning the Canadian Open was third place four times, shot a 5-under 65 in the final round, finishing the tournament at 17-under, two shots ahead of North Palm Beach's Matt Fitzpatrick.
Cauley was No. 68 in the world entering the Canadian Open.
An emotional Cauley was greeted by his wife Kristi and their sons, 3-year-old Cooper and 1-year-old Miles walking off the green.
Cauley was a passenger in the back seat of a car when the accident occurred on June 1, 2018, near Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio, on the night he missed the cut at Jack Nicklaus' Memorial Tournament.
The driver pulled out of a driveway on a residential street and lost control after accelerating. The car hit a culvert, left the ground, slammed into three trees and flipped before landing in a front yard.
When rescuers arrived, Cauley was unable to move. He was struggling to breathe.
But that wasn't the worst as Cauley appeared to recover pretty quickly.
Cauley returned to the Tour in four months. After his ribs never completely healed, he was forced back into surgery 22 months after the accident to remove plates from his chest.
A series of complications, including doctors finding bone had grown over the plates, led to several more surgeries. Cauley was sidelined more than three years, much of it dealing with pain.
"It makes you appreciate things a lot more and as far as even my golf goes, it does put that in perspective," Cauley said at the 2025 Players. "When I do have bad days, it's not the end of the world. Just come out and try again tomorrow."
Cauley's first PGA Tour victory certainly will be celebrated by one of his closest friends, who also was the best man in his wedding.
Justin Thomas met Cauley when Cauley helped the University of Alabama recruit Thomas. With Thomas living in Tequesta, the two remain close. They were in each other's wedding – Thomas was Cauley's best man – and they lived together for several years in Jupiter.
"Bud's one of my favorite people in the world," Thomas told The Palm Beach Post at the 2025 Players. "I'm rooting for him so hard. He's crazy talented. It would be a crime if he doesn't win at some point on Tour. He's got one of those games where he could play out here for a long time."
Thomas was playing in the Memorial during Cauley's accident. He has said he "couldn’t hit a shot, couldn’t play a hole, without thinking about him,” when he got to the course that Saturday.
"It was a lot," Thomas said. "It all happened very fast. It just was … it was a lot. I wanted to be there to see how my friend was doing, but, you know, it just, it was a wild, crazy, bizarre, terrible night. I wanted to go be there to see him."
Thomas then was with Cauley through each step of his recovery, setback and now, return.
"When he was going through everything, just trying to be a friend, just like I would to anybody, let alone just a peer out here," Thomas said. "We just tried to keep his spirits up as much as possible because it's pretty hard to do that."
Tom D'Angelo is a senior sports columnist and reporter for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Bud Cauley wins Canadian Open eight years after serious accident
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Cauley, who moved to Palm Beach Gardens more than a decade ago, won for the first time on the PGA Tour in his 239th start. The victory comes eight years after a car crash that left him with five broken ribs, a broken left leg and a collapsed lung.
A series of complications forced him to miss more than three years, much of it dealing with pain. He regained his PGA Tour card at The Players Championship in 2025 by finishing in a tie for sixth place.
More golf: Brooks Koepka withdraws from Canadian Open with mysterious hand injury
Cauley, whose highest finish in a PGA Tour event prior to winning the Canadian Open was third place four times, shot a 5-under 65 in the final round, finishing the tournament at 17-under, two shots ahead of North Palm Beach's Matt Fitzpatrick.
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Cauley was No. 68 in the world entering the Canadian Open.
An emotional Cauley was greeted by his wife Kristi and their sons, 3-year-old Cooper and 1-year-old Miles walking off the green.
Crash occurred night Bud Cauley missed cut at 2018 Memorial
Cauley was a passenger in the back seat of a car when the accident occurred on June 1, 2018, near Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio, on the night he missed the cut at Jack Nicklaus' Memorial Tournament.
The driver pulled out of a driveway on a residential street and lost control after accelerating. The car hit a culvert, left the ground, slammed into three trees and flipped before landing in a front yard.
When rescuers arrived, Cauley was unable to move. He was struggling to breathe.
But that wasn't the worst as Cauley appeared to recover pretty quickly.
Cauley returned to the Tour in four months. After his ribs never completely healed, he was forced back into surgery 22 months after the accident to remove plates from his chest.
A series of complications, including doctors finding bone had grown over the plates, led to several more surgeries. Cauley was sidelined more than three years, much of it dealing with pain.
"It makes you appreciate things a lot more and as far as even my golf goes, it does put that in perspective," Cauley said at the 2025 Players. "When I do have bad days, it's not the end of the world. Just come out and try again tomorrow."
Justin Thomas was best man in Bud Cauley's wedding
Cauley's first PGA Tour victory certainly will be celebrated by one of his closest friends, who also was the best man in his wedding.
Justin Thomas met Cauley when Cauley helped the University of Alabama recruit Thomas. With Thomas living in Tequesta, the two remain close. They were in each other's wedding – Thomas was Cauley's best man – and they lived together for several years in Jupiter.
"Bud's one of my favorite people in the world," Thomas told The Palm Beach Post at the 2025 Players. "I'm rooting for him so hard. He's crazy talented. It would be a crime if he doesn't win at some point on Tour. He's got one of those games where he could play out here for a long time."
Thomas was playing in the Memorial during Cauley's accident. He has said he "couldn’t hit a shot, couldn’t play a hole, without thinking about him,” when he got to the course that Saturday.
"It was a lot," Thomas said. "It all happened very fast. It just was … it was a lot. I wanted to be there to see how my friend was doing, but, you know, it just, it was a wild, crazy, bizarre, terrible night. I wanted to go be there to see him."
Thomas then was with Cauley through each step of his recovery, setback and now, return.
"When he was going through everything, just trying to be a friend, just like I would to anybody, let alone just a peer out here," Thomas said. "We just tried to keep his spirits up as much as possible because it's pretty hard to do that."
Tom D'Angelo is a senior sports columnist and reporter for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Bud Cauley wins Canadian Open eight years after serious accident
Continue reading...
