Tom D'AngeloPalm Beach Post
- Bud Cauley, who suffered serious injuries in a 2018 car accident, finished tied for sixth at The Players Championship.
PONTE VEDRA BEACH — Bud Cauley's long road back from a life-threatening car accident cleared one major hurdle Sunday.
Cauley, who missed more than three years because of complications from the 2018 car crash that left him with five broken ribs, a broken left leg and a collapsed lung, regained his PGA Tour card at The Players Championship by finishing in a tie for sixth place. The final round was held on his 35th birthday.
But Cauley, who moved to Palm Beach Gardens a decade ago, was looking for more, despite entering the field last Monday as an alternate. He was in solo second place after 54 holes, one shot behind J.J. Spaun. Five bogeys led to a final-round 74.
"A little disappointed with how the day went, but I did a lot of things well this week," said Cauley, who returned to the Tour 13 months ago and was given 27 starts to earn enough FedEx Cup points to retain his card.
"To finish top 10 in a tournament this big is a great step forward for me, and I'll try to build on that the rest of the year."
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. "When I do have bad days, it's not the end of the world. Just come out and try again tomorrow."
Cauley was hoping he'd have more reason to celebrate Sunday. But he bogeyed three of his first eight holes before sinking a 34-foot putt on No. 9 for his first birdie. He finished with three birdies, the last coming after sticking his tee shot to within 7 feet on No. 17.
Justin Thomas best man in Cauley's wedding
And Cauley had one very high-profile fan this weekend.
Cauley, who was born in Daytona Beach and raised in the Jacksonville area, attended Alabama. He helped the Crimson Tide recruit Justin Thomas.
The two became very close friends. They were in each other's wedding – Thomas was Cauley's best man – and they lived together for several years in Jupiter.
Cauley, and his wife, Kristi, have two sons, 6-week-old Miles and 2-year-old Cooper.
"Bud's one of my favorite people in the world," Thomas said. "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 shot a 73 Sunday and finished at 2-under, tied for 33rd. He finished with consecutive 73s after tying the tournament record with a 62 Friday.
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Although he had no chance to pick up his second Players and 16th career PGA Tour win, Thomas still felt like a "nervous parent" Saturday night, knowing Cauley was in a spot to pick up his first win.
That likely crept into Sunday afternoon when Thomas was monitoring Cauley after his round concluded.
"I would do some really, really weird things for Bud to win today," Thomas said, laughing. "I just want him to play well so bad, because I know how bad he wants it. And it's a huge stage, it's a big, big moment."
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 on Saturday.
"It was a lot," Thomas said Sunday. "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."
Cauley moves up 81 spots in FedEx Cup standings
Cauley's first PGA Tour event after the more than three-year layoff came at the 2024 Phoenix Open. He returned to the Tour on a major medical extension and given 27 starts to earn enough points to retain his card.
"When I first came back and started playing again, I really felt ready," Cauley said before adding, "I wasn't quite as ready as I thought I was, just having a year under my belt again and playing.
"I've tried to just really practice with a purpose and just make little changes and just get a little bit better. I feel like some things are starting to come together that I've been working on for a while now."
They certainly are. He has his card through the end of the season. And with the T6 at a major event, Cauley, who has never finished first or second in 207 career events, rose 81 spots in the FedEx Cup standings to No. 47, the biggest jump of anyone in the Players field.
Cauley also moved to No. 143 in the world golf ranking, jumping 108 spots. And the $843,750 he pocketed Sunday put his career earnings above $10.5 million.
"I've always believed that I can compete with the best guys in the world, and I should be hopefully winning tournaments and playing on Presidents Cup teams and Ryder Cup teams," Cauley said. "That's always been my dream, and I still believe that I can do that. This helps a lot.
"I felt like I contended this week and still feel like I made a lot of mistakes that I can clean up pretty easily. That's what I'll take from this the most is that I was right there and it wasn't like I was playing perfect. I felt like there were a lot of things that I could improve."
Tom D'Angelo is a senior sports columnist and reporter for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at tdangelo@pbpost.com.
