CALEDON, Ont. – Almost eight years ago to the day of his RBC Canadian Open win, Bud Cauley was in a horrific car accident that was so bad it nearly killed him.
Now Cauley, who was a superstar-in-waiting while at the University of Alabama – where he played alongside major champion Justin Thomas – finally broke through for his first PGA Tour title, winning the 2026 edition of the Canadian Open by two shots.
It was June 2018, and Cauley, who missed the cut at the Memorial, was in a single-car accident in a community near the tournament. He suffered six broken ribs, a collapsed lung, a fracture in his left leg, and a concussion. While he returned to golf about six months later and qualified for the FedExCup playoffs in both 2019 and 2020, he ended up needing to navigate complications from those six broken ribs, which led to surgeries and significant time away from golf. He finally returned to the PGA Tour in 2024.
In that time away, he got married and had two kids, and the support from his wife, Kristi, has been an unbelievable asset as he got back to the biggest stage in professional golf, he said.
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“I tried so many things, and a lot of things I didn’t see any improvement with,” Cauley told PGATOUR.com in 2024 before his full-time return. “After a while, your optimism starts to fade a little bit. (Not playing again) was definitely something I considered and thought about.
“But even when I would get down or lose hope, (Cauley’s wife, Kristi) was always the positive one that said I would get it figured out and I would get back out here.”
Even though Cauley was a can’t-miss kid at Alabama (Thomas, his teammate, took to X to say, “I love @BudCauley” as he sank the winning putt), golf doesn’t owe anyone anything. It’s been, essentially, a decade-and-a-half of toiling for Cauley to get to this point – the winner’s circle, finally, on the PGA Tour.
The leaderboard was bunched through Sunday, with three players sharing the lead heading into the back nine. It was a soaker of a finale with a constant, cold rain beating down on the players and tee times moved up in order to try to get the tournament completed before the U.S. Open next week. Cauley was firmly in the mix before breaking out after holing an improbable pitch from the gnarly greenside rough on the par-4 12th – part of a run of three birdies in a row and five in eight holes.
Cauley ended up shooting a 5-under 65 and won by two over Matt Fitzpatrick, himself a three-time winner on the PGA Tour already this season and by three over Viktor Hovland, who was returning to action for the first time in a month. A foursome of golfers, including 54-hole leader Jackson Suber, rounded out the top five.
Sudarshan Yellamaraju finished tied for eighth – his third top-10 result of the season – and earned the Rivermead Cup as low Canadian for the first time. Mat Anderson, who shared the first-round lead at TPC Toronto, was tied for the lead at one point Sunday after shooting a 6-under 29 in his first nine holes before making a costly double bogey on the par-4 10th. He was a shot back of Yellamaraju and finished tied for 11th.
Not only did Cauley tilt his first trophy on the PGA Tour, but he also earned a spot in next week’s U.S. Open and The Open Championship with his win.
The triumph came in Cauley’s 239th career start on the PGA Tour, which was the fifth-most starts amongst active players on the Tour without a win. He had just one top-10 finish so far this season, which, ironically, came at the RBC Heritage. His season had been steady otherwise, with just two missed cuts in 14 starts.
“I felt like I’ve been playing really solid,” Cauley said of his 2026 campaign. “I’m playing really solid golf, but it’s like I’ll make a couple birdies and then make a bogey, and it kind of kills my momentum. Where, this week, it seemed like when I made a birdie, I was able to back it up with a couple and really kind of keep that momentum going.”
Cauley turned pro in 2011 and managed to parlay sponsor exemptions into PGA Tour status – notching four top-15 results in just seven starts that year. A few years later, he made his debut at the Canadian Open, where he finished tied for 13th and then, in 2012, he finished tied for fourth.
Those results, and that car accident, now feel like a lifetime ago for Cauley. He said there were times when he was hurt that he wasn’t sure if he would be able to play ever again. Once he got back to it, however, he always believed in his ability to play and be competitive.
“I knew I could win,” Cauley said, “but I also knew that I needed to prove it to myself and go out and do it.”
He did it on Sunday at TPC Toronto. Cauley’s kids ran into their father’s arms, and he broke down in tears of joy.
A lifetime of work for a singular, special moment.
“So many events without getting a win, but with everything that our family went through when I was out and then to have my first win when everyone’s here,” Cauley said, “just it kind of seems like perfect timing.”