William Carl " Bud" Cauley III (born March 16, 1990) is an American professional golfer.
Early life
Cauley was born in Daytona Beach, Florida where he was
home schooled by his parents. He was ranked top-five nationally in junior golf and among top 15 in the world. As a junior golfer, Cauley was a member of the 2006 Junior Ryder Cup, and the 2008 USA Junior World Golf Championships team. He was also a co-medalist at the 2008 Toyota World Junior Amateur Championships. When Cauley moved up to amateur events he was ranked No. 1 in junior golf.
Amateur career
Cauley chose to play college golf for the University of Alabama golf team, where he became one of the best in the program's history. He was a three-time first-team
Golfweek All-American during his three years at Alabama. He was also a finalist for the Hogan Award, given to the best college golfer, all three years at Alabama. Cauley was a member of the 2009 U.S. Walker Cup team, where he posted a 3-0-1 record. In 2009, Cauley was the Southeastern Conference's Freshman of the Year. That year he captured his first collegiate victory at the United States Collegiate Championship. In 2008 he won the
Players Amateur, qualifying him for the 2010
Verizon Heritage on the PGA Tour. He played in the 2009 and 2010 U.S. Amateur; in 2009 Cauley beat the world's No. 1 amateur,
Rickie Fowler, in the first round of match play. He also won the Terra Cotta Invitational in 2008.
Professional career
After finishing his junior year at Alabama, Cauley qualified for the 2011 U.S. Open and decided to turn professional, foregoing his senior season.
[ Ex-Tide star Bud Cauley making his pro debut today at U.S. Open] Cauley did not miss a cut in the first four PGA Tour events he played, which included a T4 at the
Viking Classic. He also finished T4 at the Nationwide Tour's Utah Championship. Cauley made the cut at the 2011 U.S. Open, finishing T63 and guaranteeing a bypass to the second stage of Q School.
[ Former Alabama golfer Bud Cauley could skip 'Q' school]
Cauley also finished third at the 2011 Safeway Open, earning $340,000. In 2011, Cauley earned $735,150 in eight PGA Tour starts. He finished the equivalent of 116th on the 2011 money list, joining Gary Hallberg, Scott Verplank, Phil Mickelson, Justin Leonard, Ryan Moore, and Tiger Woods as those who avoided Q school and went directly to the PGA Tour after college.
In 2012, Cauley's had four top-10 finishes; he was in the top 100 in the Official World Golf Ranking by the end of July of that year.
In 2013, Cauley made only 10 cuts in 24 events. He played in the Web.com Tour Finals and finished 18th to retain his PGA Tour card for 2014.
In June 2018, Cauley suffered five broken ribs, a broken left leg and a collapsed lung in car crash in Dublin, Ohio. In October 2018, Cauley returned to golf and he played some events over the next two years. However, he developed medical complications in September 2020. He did not play professionally until a Korn Ferry Tour event in January 2024.
Professional wins (1)
Web.com Tour wins (1)
|
| Finals event (1) |
| Other Web.com Tour (0) |
|
| 1 | Aug 31, 2014 | Hotel Fitness Championship | −20 (66-70-67-65=268) | 1 stroke | Colt Knost |
Results in major championships
Results not in chronological order in 2020.
|
| Masters Tournament | | | | | | | | |
| U.S. Open | T63 | | | | | | CUT | |
| The Open Championship | | | T32 | | | | | |
| PGA Championship | | CUT | | | | | T33 | |
|
| Masters Tournament | | | | | | | |
| PGA Championship | | T37 | | | | | T72 |
| U.S. Open | | | | | | | CUT |
| The Open Championship | | NT | | | | | CUT |
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied for place
NT = no tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic
Results in The Players Championship
|
| The Players Championship | CUT | CUT | | | | | CUT | T47 |
|
| The Players Championship | C | | | | | T6 |
CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
C = Canceled after the first round due to the COVID-19 pandemic
U.S. national team appearances
Amateur
-
Junior Ryder Cup: 2006
-
Palmer Cup: 2009
-
Walker Cup: 2009 (winners)
See also
-
2013 Web.com Tour Finals graduates
-
2014 Web.com Tour Finals graduates
External links
