{"id":437582,"date":"2026-01-19T18:23:24","date_gmt":"2026-01-19T18:23:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/?p=437582"},"modified":"2026-01-19T18:23:24","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T18:23:24","slug":"resilience-the-return-of-bud-cauley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/resilience-the-return-of-bud-cauley\/","title":{"rendered":"Resilience: The Return Of Bud Cauley"},"content":{"rendered":"

There have been numerous feel good stories<\/a> within athletes on the PGA Tour that have hit close to home for those involved in the sport. One that held the headlines and spotlight for quite some time, the comeback story of Bud Cauley. Cauley, a Tour<\/a> member since 2012, has had through 224 events thus far not yet secured a win. After spending more than three years recovering from a near fatal car crash, Cauley finds himself competing with the best once again at the Sony Open in Hawaii. Stepping foot on the big stages not only offers a sense of relief for himself, but a strong motivational factor for those in the sport and on the come up as well.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Story Not Over\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

After the second round of the Memorial Tournament in June 2018, Cauley was involved in a car accident that almost cost his life. The many different injuries were various like a fractured leg, broken ribs, and a collapsed lung as well. Due to the severity of the injuries, Cauley had to undergo several surgeries as a result.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe scariest night of my life,\u201d Cauley said<\/a> in talks with ESPN.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the recovery process, there were some roadblocks in the process of his return back to golf. In the months after, Cauley could barely take part in various motions with a golf club according to reports.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cGolf was sort of the last thing on my mind when I\u2019m having these conversations with doctors,\u201d Cauley said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
Aug 22, 2025; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Hideki Matsuyama plays his shot from the third tee during the second round of the TOUR Championship golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Second Chances Don\u2019t Come Often\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The reality for Cauley at one point, did not have the possible return back to golf in the forefront. Through the many mental battles and physical, the road has been filled with what if\u2019s and possibilities.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With the help of family and friends, the light within and around Cauley never failed to dim.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t be here without them,\u201d he said.<\/a> \u201cThey helped me keep my head straight when things were at their worst.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, as many would never expect, the veteran has worked himself back in 2025 to PGA competition. Beginning things in 2025 at the WM Phoenix Open, Caudley culminated multiple top ten finishes at the end of the season. With his much anticipated return seen at the Sony Open, Caudley performed better than some may have expected. Finishing in a seven way tie for 24th place, the veteran is performing in great fashion and trending in the right direction for the season ahead.<\/span><\/p>\n

Main Photo Credit: \u00a9 Marco Garcia-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There have been numerous feel good stories within athletes on the PGA Tour that have hit close to home for those involved in the sport. One that held the headlines and spotlight for quite some time, the comeback story of Bud Cauley. Cauley, a Tour member since 2012, has had through 224 events thus far […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5427,"featured_media":437583,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[15,19],"tags":[8214,8104],"class_list":["post-437582","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-golf","category-pga","tag-bud-cauley","tag-sony-open"],"modified_by":"Orlando Fuller","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/437582","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5427"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=437582"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/437582\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":437585,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/437582\/revisions\/437585"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/437583"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=437582"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=437582"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=437582"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}