After more than a decade of waiting and an afternoon spent earning and then clinging to a lead, Bud Cauley broke into a trot at the RBC Canadian Open.
Ostensibly, it was to mark his ball and make sure it didn’t lose its place on the 18th green and slip into the water hazard, but after all that Cauley has been through, who could blame him for wanting to go ahead and get it over with?
On Sunday, Cauley became the fifth player this season to win on the PGA Tour for the first time, but none of the four golfers who preceded him can match his story of surviving a single-car crash eight years ago that threatened to end his professional golf career.
“So many people helped me get here, and I’m just thankful for all the help I’ve gotten,” Cauley told CBS moments after knocking in a 10-inch par putt, and taking his wife, Kristi, and two young sons into his arms in front of a clapping crowd at TPC Toronto.
“Once I got the opportunity to start playing again, I just told myself that I was going to try to just do everything the right way and give myself the best chance. I put my wife through so much during those dark times, and it’s just nice to have a little success as kind of a thank you.”
Fifteen years ago, following his junior year at Alabama, Cauley qualified for the U.S. Open and elected to turn pro afterward, earning his PGA Tour card in his first eight events. Nothing went as planned after that, as Cauley at times had to battle just to keep his card.
Another missed cut at the 2018 Memorial Tournament changed everything.
He was a passenger in a horrific car wreck that weekend in a suburb of Columbus, Ohio, the vehicle flipping and seriously injuring the driver and all three passengers, another of whom was then-NHL defenseman James Wisniewski.
Cauley suffered five broken ribs, a collapsed lung and a broken leg in the crash. While he initially made a miraculous return, it was short-lived. Cauley felt consistent discomfort in his midsection, and when doctors went in to remove a plate installed during his initial treatment, they discovered bone growth over it, making that impossible. The surgery site didn’t heal properly, leaving him with an open wound that his wife discovered, which later became infected.
By the time a path forward was found, Cauley had lost three years of his career. Now a father, he seriously considered moving on from golf.
He finally returned to the PGA Tour in 2024, and a wider audience learned his story in March 2025, when he was in contention at The Players Championship before ultimately finishing tied for sixth.
Now 36, Cauley had one top-10 finish to his name this year (a seventh-place result at the RBC Heritage) and finished tied for 22nd at last week’s Memorial. After 238 starts on the PGA Tour, not only had he never won, but he had never finished second.
He was not qualified for next week’s U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills. He is now.
On Sunday, Cauley started one back of leader Jackson Suber, joined in the final group by Wyndham Clark. Cauley had shot 69-63-66 to get to 12 under par for the week.
“I think my perspective has changed, and my priorities, I think, are in order,” Cauley told reporters Saturday night, faced with the prospect of his first career win. “So it’s not the most important thing in the world to me, but it is very important. I work really hard at it, so that’s why I come out here and play, is to try to win tournaments.”
Bud Cauley reacts to winning the RBC Canadian Open with his wife, Kristi, and their two young sons. (Minas Panagiotakis / Getty Images)
A birdie on the par-3 11th put Cauley into a tie for first and started the run that led to his first PGA Tour championship.
On the 12th, Cauley hit a wedge from 93 feet out over a bunker and holed it for another birdie. A third-straight birdie came on the par-4 13th, and a 16-foot birdie putt on No. 15 made it four in five. He went from tied for first to a four-shot lead in the stretch, setting up a nervous final three holes as he sought to hang on.
The finish was eventful, including a bogey on No. 17 and a shot out of the rough on the 18th that led to him losing his balance, but his final score of 17 under par was two shots better than the closest competitor.
Matt Fitzpatrick, who was seeking his fourth PGA Tour win of the season, shot a 64 to get to 15 under par and finish in second place. Viktor Hovland finished third after shooting a 65.