Bud Cauley's PGA Tour success was about more than just winning
In sports, numbers can be deceiving.
They can materialize reality – change our perception of reality into the sweet stories of “good” and “bad.” They can leave a nuance, a subtlety, that makes the athlete great or that contributes to his death. They can tell us simple lies.
But sometimes the numbers can reveal the whole complex truth. Like, for example, in the case of Bud Cauley, where one figure tells the whole truth and nothing but it.
The figure in question? Two hundred and thirty nine. Otherwise known as the number of starts between Cauley's first PGA Tour event and his first major tour win, which came Sunday evening at the RBC Canadian Open.
On the other hand, for a golfer who can make no more than 30 starts a year, 239 starts without a win is an incredible feat. Even in a game played on the thinnest of margins with many skilled competitors, random chance suggests you can achieve at least one victory in 239.
On the other hand, recording 239 starts on the PGA Tour is not only impressive but obvious remarkable. Winning or not, it takes a good golfer to make 239 PGA Tour starts with career parity. Returning to the field that many times suggests not only intelligence but also longevity. It increases will power. It suggests resilience.
Cauley showed us each of these things on Sunday afternoon at the RBC Canadian Open, where her maiden PGA Tour victory finally came. From the moment he stepped onto the 10th tee until he entered the championship tournament, every season of Cauley's longevity and willpower and stamina was tested by the field at TPC Toronto, which he chased bitterly in the back nine on Sunday afternoon.
Cauley's defining moment came on the 12th hole, when he holed his second straight birdie from the far green. Cauley raised his club, surprised and a little impressed, as he fell into the hole — his expression showing the kind of even-keel needed to stick around for a long time on the PGA Tour. His birdies on three of the next four holes to dodge and hide showed the kind of mental fortitude that comes from so many near misses. And his final par – needing only a bogey to win the golf tournament – showed the willpower that came after realizing there was a bigger rival within.
But those were just the visible scenes on Sunday. Not many times over the past fifteen years as Cauley's game blossomed from a decorated junior player to an undefeated PGA Tour veteran. Not the emotions that come after each miss, 29 top-10s, where victory was so close but obviously so far. And it's certainly not the pain that came after a one-car accident outside Muirfield Village eight years ago, when doctors put an iron in his chest and cast serious doubt on his ability to play golf professionally again.
If you wanted to know the weight of all those things, you needed to wait until after the game on Sunday evening, when Cauley, his wife and his two children shared a tearful celebration on the 18th green. Cauley didn't let the emotions get to him all week at TPC Toronto, calmly answering questions from reporters wondering about the emotions that might accompany his first victory.
“I don't really want to think about that right now,” he said.
Finally he thought about it as his partner fell into the hole, winning the victory and more—and with no golf left to play, tears fell.
“[I’m thinking about] how hard that was,” said Cauley. “There are a lot of people who have helped me get here and I'm very grateful for all the help I've received.”
It was telling that Cauley's first feelings at the victory were not joy but gratitude. Disclosure of Cauley's formation and journey.
“When I got the chance to start playing again, I just told myself that I will try to do everything the right way and give myself the best chance,” he said. “I put my wife through a lot of things during those dark times and it's nice to have a little success as a form of thanks.”
That appreciation was on display for everyone on Sunday's 18th at the RBC Canadian Open, when Bud Cauley finished a 239 start with new figures.
PGA Tour victories: One.
