Bud Cauley

35-Year-Old Golfer

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2025 Stats

Rank

Winnings

$2,732,983

Winnings/Entry

$182,199

Entries

Rounds

2025 Fantasy Outlook

Cauley had not teed it up in competition since 2020 due to a lengthy list of injuries prior to the 2024 season. It certainly was a bit of a struggle, but he found some momentum down the stretch making four of his last five cuts, including a T5 finish at the Sanderson Farms Championship. Cauley has 10 more events left on his major medical extension going into the 2025 season. He has already clinched at least conditional status, but is also just 136 FedExCup points away from regaining full status. There are some exciting things working in his favor like ranking 21st in GIR percentage and eighth in scrambling. Now finally healthy, Cauley is in position to get his career back on track. Read Past Outlooks

Handedness Right

Status Pro

Height 5'8"

Weight 161 lbs

DOB 3/16/1990

Birthplace Daytona Beach, Florida

College Alabama

Country USA

Heading to the U.S. Open

June 5, 2025

Cauley qualified for this year's U.S. Open after shooting a three-under 69 and a four-under 68 at the U.S. Open Final Qualifying site in Columbus on Monday.

ANALYSIS
Cauley was one of the six qualifiers to come out of the U.S. Open Final Qualifying event in Columbus, Ohio on Monday. Cauley opened his qualifying with a solid three-under 69 to put himself in position to make a run at qualifying. After going out with an even-par 36 in his final round, Cauley needed to make a back nine charge. He then reeled off four straight birdies on holes 11, 12, 13, and 14 to finish his final round at seven-under par for the event, just two shots out of a playoff. This comes to no surprise as Cauley has put together a very nice season so far. He's collected four top-10s and seven top-30s in 13 events on the PGA Tour this year, while only missing one cut. He will be put to the test next week at Oakmont as he attempts to play better then he did in his last major at this year's PGA Championship, where he finished tied for 72nd.

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PGA Stats

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Tournament Results

Scoring

FanDuel

DraftKings

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PGA Advanced Stats

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Projected PGA Tournament Status

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Past Fantasy Outlooks

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

Cauley looked like a future star after two top-5 finishes in 2011 at age 21, but his results have failed to live up to the talent. He does a good job of making cuts, but he's not very long or a great putter which makes it difficult for him to contend often and get that breakthrough victory. He's a good DFS option on courses that force layups off-the-tee and it would be a shock to see Cauley miss the FedEx Cup Playoffs next season.

The hype surrounding Cauley was massive when he first entered the PGA Tour in 2012, but after yet another lackluster season, it might be time to just accept him for what he is - a good golfer, who is never going to be elite. Cauley has played on the PGA Tour for the better part of the past seven seasons and he's yet to post a win or a runner-up finish. Cauley simply doesn't have the upside that it looked like he had some seven or eight years ago. He's pretty reliable, which is fine for formats outside of salary caps, but obviously he's not an option in salary cap leagues.

Cauley is among the group of "young guns" that hasn't quite hit their stride yet. Coincidently, another member of that group, Harris English, finished right behind Cauley on the FedEx points list last season. There's no doubt that both guys would rather be more accomplished at this point in their careers, but there's a lot of competition out there and there's no room to let up. Cauley has flashed a few times in PGA Tour career, most notably in 2012 when he posted six top-10s, but he's yet to win or even finish runner-up on the PGA Tour. The potential is there, but there are plenty of guys with potential on the PGA Tour and many of them actually live up to it. Cauley has enough upside to double his number from last season, but odds are, he'll be fighting to stay inside the top-125 again a year from now.

Entering the 2012 season, the hype surrounding Cauley was much like the hype surrounding Rahm and DeChambeau entering last season. Cauley didn't disappoint either as he posted six top-10s on his way to more than $1.7 million in earnings. What happened after that season though is a mystery. Over the next three seasons, Cauley missed 27 of 57 cuts and the jury was again out on his skills. He put some of those questions to rest last season and he again resembled the guy who played so well in 2012, but his ceiling is still unclear. With that in mind, Cauley carries a little too much risk and not quite enough reward this season.

After earning nearly $100k per start in an abbreviated 2011 season, Cauley quickly became a hot prospect. That momentum continued through the following season as he pulled-in over $1.7 million in earnings, but somewhere between that season on the following season, Cauley lost his game. Cauley spent the following two seasons just trying to crack the top-125 in earnings (failing both times) and it wasn't until last season that he finally started to put his game back together. It remains to be seen if Cauley can get back to his 2012 level, but the way he finished last season is promising; all of which makes Cauley an intriguing option in salary cap leagues this season. In draft leagues, Cauley should be drafted near round 10.

Cauley is a rarity among the top 50: He’s played the last three seasons on the PGA Tour, this past season finishing 143rd in the point standings, and regained his card by winning the Web.com Tour finals opener. But after missing the cut the next week, he underwent surgery to repair the labrum in his left shoulder. So even though he’s among the most-tested of the new grads – 38th in the FEC point standings in 2012 -- he will miss 4-6 months. He starts out fourth in the priority rankings, but it’s hard to miss that much time and succeed.

Four made cuts to end his 2013 PGA Tour season weren't enough to spare Cauley a trip to The Finals to save card.

After a late-season surge as a non-member in 2011, a lot was expected of Cauley in 2012, and he delivered. Cauley missed his fare share of cuts (seven of 28 events played), but for the most part, he remained pretty steady the entire year. While Cauley isn't a must at this price, he's pretty darn close. There's no reason to think he'll regress this season, and his upside is tremendous, so he's as good a pick as you'll find in this range. Cauley might go a little early in draft leagues because he was highly touted last season, but the fourth round is probably where he should be slotted.

How's this for exclusive company, last season Cauley became the sixth player in PGA Tour history to earn his card in summer and fall after leaving college and turning pro. The other five are Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Gary Hallberg, Justin Leonard and Ryan Moore. As a non-member, Cauley earned more than the 125th person on the money list, which means starting in January, he's a member of the PGA Tour. We've seen situations similar to this before and it doesn't always play out like you'd expect, but the future sure looks bright for Cauley.

21-year old Cauley, a rookie non-PGA Tour member, earned enough money through the McGladrey Classic, October 16, 2011, to safely project his position would be 112th on the final PGA Tour money list thus earning a 2012 PGA Tour playing card. He is the sixth player to do so.

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Solo third place at Colonial

May 26, 2025

Cauley carded a three-under 67 in the final round to finish in solo third place at the Charles Schwab Challenge.