Bud Cauley birdied four holes in a five-hole stretch on the back nine at TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley’s North Course to win the RBC Canadian Open for his first PGA Tour victory in 238 career starts and eight years after being involved in a single-car accident that derailed his career.
Cauley, 36, closed with 5-under 65 on Sunday in Caledon, Ottawa for a 72-hole total of 17-under 263 and two-shot win over Matt Fitzpatrick.
A three-time first-team All-American at the University of Alabama, Cauley was destined for stardom when he turned pro, and he recorded five top-15 finishes in 11 starts to earn PGA Tour status without needing Q-School. The RBC Canadian Open was among the tournaments wooing him with a sponsor invite when he joined the pay-for-play ranks, and Cauley finished T-13 in his tournament debut in 2011.
“I just remember the golf course being very hard. I remember Tommy Gainey playing well the first round and saying we should have a U.S. Open here, kind of forgetting that we were not in the United States,” said Cauley with a laugh.
But his career has endured more lows than highs. In 2014, he suffered a shoulder injury that required surgery. That was nothing compared to tragedy striking in June 2018. Cauley was a passenger in a single-car accident in Dublin, Ohio, during the Memorial Tournament. He sustained six broken ribs, a broken leg and a collapsed lung in the accident in which he was a passenger. He posted on Instagram that he felt “lucky to be alive.”
Cauley, 36, closed with 5-under 65 on Sunday in Caledon, Ottawa for a 72-hole total of 17-under 263 and two-shot win over Matt Fitzpatrick.
A three-time first-team All-American at the University of Alabama, Cauley was destined for stardom when he turned pro, and he recorded five top-15 finishes in 11 starts to earn PGA Tour status without needing Q-School. The RBC Canadian Open was among the tournaments wooing him with a sponsor invite when he joined the pay-for-play ranks, and Cauley finished T-13 in his tournament debut in 2011.
“I just remember the golf course being very hard. I remember Tommy Gainey playing well the first round and saying we should have a U.S. Open here, kind of forgetting that we were not in the United States,” said Cauley with a laugh.
But his career has endured more lows than highs. In 2014, he suffered a shoulder injury that required surgery. That was nothing compared to tragedy striking in June 2018. Cauley was a passenger in a single-car accident in Dublin, Ohio, during the Memorial Tournament. He sustained six broken ribs, a broken leg and a collapsed lung in the accident in which he was a passenger. He posted on Instagram that he felt “lucky to be alive.”
12 hours ago
