Eagle at No. 9, birdie at the Island Green highlights a round in which Cauley was briefly tied for the lead
Two-Minute Drill: Players Championship, spring high school sports
The Players Championship takes place in Ponte Vedra Beach near Jacksonville this Thursday through Sunday; high school spring sports take center stage.
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Bud Cauley said life-changing moments, such as fatherhood and a near-fatal car accident, make dealing with a little wind and a few bogeys on the golf course just minor annoyances.
“It makes you appreciate things a lot more and yeah, as far as my golf goes, it does put that in perspective,” Cauley said on Saturday after posting a 66 that briefly tied him for the lead in The Players Championship. “When I do have bad days, it’s not the end of the world. Just come and try again tomorrow.”
If the former Jacksonville resident and University of Alabama player has another day on Sunday like that, he may be hoisting the gold man trophy as the Players champion. Cauley finished at 11-under-par 205 at the Players Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass, one shot behind leader J.J. Spaun.
Cauley is in his first Players Championship since 2019, when he made his only cut in four career starts to that point. He shot 69 in the first round and was four shots off the lead, then posted a 70 in the second round. But a 76 in the third round led to a tie for 47th.
He’s battled injuries related to the car crash (he broke five ribs, his lower left leg and had a collapsed lung), lost his PGA Tour card, and has been playing on a Major Medical Exemption for more than a year to earn 440.35 FedEx Cup points in 27 starts, a clock that began at the 2024 WM Phoenix Open.
Cauley has 373.462 points and has six starts left to earn 66.893 to regain his Tour card. All he needs is a solo 18th or better at The Players (worth 70 points), so any kind of a decent day in the final round will do it.
Cauley is living his Players dream
But it could be a lot better than decent.
Cauley has dreamed of being in The Players since he was 5 years old when his family moved to Jacksonville and he attended the tournament every year, chasing his favorite player, Len Mattiace, and seeing some of the tournament’s magic moments, such as Tiger Woods’ “Better than Most” putt in 2001 and watching Fred Couples forced to chip at No. 8 left-handed, and making it in 2004.
“I’d come out here Monday through Sunday, watch all the golf, obviously dreaming about playing,” Cauley said. “I have a lot of great memories.”
He also played the course in tournament conditions in the inaugural Junior Players in 2007, tying for third.
“That was way back,” he smiled.
Cauley made late birdie run to the top
Cauley’s career best Stadium Course round was stitched together by seven birdies, one marvelous eagle chip-in from deep rough at No. 9 and three bogeys.
He made his last bogey at No. 10, then birdied four of his next seven holes, ending with a 15-foot putt at the Island Green. Cauley putted from off the back fringe for a 27-foot birdie at No. 15.
He had a good look from the fringe at No. 18, 14 feet and pin-high, but missed.
“I’ve hit a lot of good iron shots … I hit a couple today I wasn’t too pleased with but I feel the important thing is putting the ball in the fairway,” Cauley said. “I’ve been driving the ball pretty well all week and I’ve also been putting well. I feel like when I’ve had those 10-, 12-, 15-footers for birdie, I’ve been able to make most of them.”
Cauley missed only three fairways and required only 23 putts. He is tied for sixth in the field in driving accuracy (73.8 percent, 31 of 42) and is fourth in the field in closest average proximity to the hole (30 feet, 9 inches).
Cauley was in the field, then out, then in
Cauley was the last player to get into the field off his 2025 FedEx Cup points, and was temporarily knocked to first alternate late last Sunday when Karl Vilips won the Puerto Rico Open (winning a Tour event is higher on the eligibility priority list for The Players).
But Lee Hodges withdrew on Monday morning with a rib injury and Cauley was back in. He got a phone call from the Tour when he was practicing at the Bears Club in Jupiter.
“I was kind of hopeful that being one out I might get a chance,” he said.
Had Cauley not made the field, what would he have done with his week?
“We have a one-month,” he said of the most recent arrival in the Cauley family. “So changing diapers and not sleeping very well.”
He should sleep pretty good on that 66.
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