Tuesday morning at the WM Phoenix Open, spectators poured through the gates of TPC Scottsdale, bubbling over the TOUR stop that is equal parts festival and golf competition. It already felt like the weekend. There was an exhilarating energy.
Bud Cauley matched that energy, and for good reason.
This week, Cauley, 33, will compete again on the PGA TOUR after missing more than three years due to a variety of injuries that resulted from complications following a vehicle accident in 2018. Cauley believes that the moment is right for his comeback after making two rehab starts on the Korn Ferry Tour in The Bahamas last month, where he finished in a respectable T21-T35. It doesn’t hurt that he has just defeated lifelong pal Justin Thomas in money games played back home in South Florida.
He could, after all, cause 3 years’ worth of cheers with a single, well-placed putt at the Stadium Course’s renowned 16th par-3 hole.
“It’s difficult to articulate how much you kind of miss something when you play golf every day and grow up doing it. However, when something is taken away, it does alter your understanding of how lucky we are to be able to play golf and even get to do what we enjoy doing. It has even been a lot of fun to see a lot of people and faces I haven’t seen in a long time during the past couple of days. I had a great time playing in The Bahamas, and I’m excited to be back here for this tournament. I’ve played here quite a few times.” Cauley said on Tuesday.
Thomas, who enrolled at Alabama in the autumn of 2011, one semester after Cauley turned pro after his junior season, is also happy to see Cauley back. Thomas watched closely last month as Cauley returned to the Korn Ferry Tour, and he wasn’t shocked by the impressive outcomes.
Cauley was involved in an automobile accident on Friday at the Workday-sponsored 2018 Memorial Tournament. After suffering six broken ribs, a deflated right lung, and a damaged left leg, he expressed his gratitude for still being alive. Thomas played the third round at Muirfield Village with a heavy heart, having spent the majority of that Friday night in the hospital with Cauley. “I was obsessed with it and with him, and all I wanted was to finish it and head to the hospital.” he stated about his Saturday mindset.
Thomas had been hoping over the past few years to get the opportunity to participate on the TOUR with his good friend once more. This week, that hope comes true.
“I’m ecstatic that Bud is back. He is without a doubt one of my closest pals. I know he’s spent a lot of time wondering whether this would ever get better, whether it would be cured, and whether he would ever be able to play golf again, so I’m extremely glad and proud of him. I am aware of Bud’s excellence and his innate talent. My intention was to maintain an optimistic attitude and to reassure him that everything will work out. Healing will simply take time.” Thomas said.
“Simply put, he is too skilled a player to have lost here at some point.” he added.
After recuperating from surgery, Cauley rejoined the Tour in the autumn of 2018 and completed two full seasons, maintaining his card in both instances. However, he had to walk away in the autumn of 2020 when his right side started to pain once more. He saw a few doctors, who speculated that the pain might have originated from the plates inserted into his chest. He made an incision, but because the bone had grown over the plates, they could not be removed. The incision then burst out again 12 days after the surgery, forcing him to visit the emergency room once more.
The majority of Cauley’s past three years have been filled with trips to the doctor and physiotherapy clinics.
According to him on Tuesday, he had “a couple more surgeries that didn’t heal very well, and it was just a whole mess.” He had an infection with C. difficile, a seroma, and a collection of fluid where tissue had been removed. But following a successful operation on his chest wall and ribs, he eventually felt well enough to try a comeback.
Thus, he is confident both in his ability to put on a display and, more crucially, in the durability of his body as he stands here at the WM Phoenix Open. With 27 starts left on a Major Medical Extension after finishing No. 83 in the 2020 FedExCup, he will have plenty of opportunity to go back to his best ; he needs to score 391.355 points to maintain his card.
Although Cauley’s skill and passion for the game were always undeniable, his body was not always cooperative. The former top-ranked junior and University of Alabama student had developed into a reliable veteran of the Tour. He would occasionally chip and putt throughout his absence, but he didn’t really get going until late September. He grew stronger and made more progress till he thought a recovery was feasible. His two outings on the Korn Ferry Tour went well; rhythm quickly returned after a few rounds.
Now that he is back, Cauley is in a new stage of life. He and his wife Kristi have a one-year-old baby named Cooper. During his recuperation, Cauley wished only that he might play golf with his kid one day. Perhaps in the future, his son will be able to witness him lift a TOUR trophy. The applause would pour in.
Thomas remarked, “I think the TOUR is a better place, with BC out here.”
