} William Carl "Bud" Cauley III (born March 16, 1990) is an American

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

Amateur career

Cauley was born in

Daytona Beach, Florida Daytona Beach, or simply Daytona, is a coastal Resort town, resort-city in east-central Florida. Located on the eastern edge of Volusia County, Florida, Volusia County near the East Coast of the United States, Atlantic coastline, its population ...

where he was

home schooled Homeschooling or home schooling, also known as home education or elective home education (EHE), is the education of school-aged children at home or a variety of places other than a school. Usually conducted by a parent, tutor, or an onlin ...

by his parents. He was ranked top-five nationally in junior golf and among top 15 in the world. As a junior golfer, Cauley was a member of the 2006 Junior Ryder Cup, and the 2008 USA

Junior World Golf Championships The IMG Academy Junior World Golf Championships are held in San Diego, California, United States each year, currently in July and conducted by the San Diego Junior Golf Association. They include tournaments for six age groups ranging from under-6 to ...

team. He was also a co-medalist at the 2008 Toyota World Junior Amateur Championships. When Cauley moved up to amateur events he was ranked No. 1 in junior golf. Cauley chose to play college golf for the University of Alabama golf team, where he became one of the best in the program's history. He was a three-time first-team

Golfweek ''Golfweek'' is a golf magazine and digital media outlet based in Orlando, Florida, United States. It is part of Gannett's USA Today Network. History and profile The magazine was founded in 1975 by Charley Stine and was originally named ''Florida ...

All-American during his three years at Alabama. He was also a finalist for the Hogan Award, given to the best college golfer, all three years at Alabama. Cauley was a member of the 2009 U.S. Walker Cup team, where he posted a 3-0-1 record. In 2009, Cauley was the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

's Freshman of the Year. That year he captured his first collegiate victory at the United States Collegiate Championship. In 2008 he won the

Players Amateur The Players Amateur was an annual amateur golf tournament. It was played from 2000 to 2019. It was organized by the Heritage Classic Foundation, which also sponsored the RBC Heritage on the PGA Tour. It was last played at Berkeley Hall Club in Bl ...

, qualifying him for the 2010

Verizon Heritage The RBC Heritage, known for much of its history as the Heritage Classic or simply the Heritage, is a PGA Tour event in South Carolina, first played in 1969. It is currently played in mid-April, the week after The Masters in Augusta, Georgia. Th ...

on the PGA Tour. He played in the 2009 and 2010

U.S. Amateur The United States Amateur Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Amateur, is the leading annual golf tournament in the United States for amateur golfers. It is organized by the United States Golf Association and is currently held each August ov ...

; in 2009 Cauley beat the world's No. 1 amateur,

Rickie Fowler Rick Yutaka Fowler (born December 13, 1988) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. He was the number one ranked amateur golfer in the world for 36 weeks in 2007 and 2008. On January 24, 2016 he reached a career high fourth ...

, in the first round of match play. He also won the Terra Cotta Invitational in 2008.

Professional career

After finishing his junior year at Alabama, Cauley qualified for the 2011 U.S. Open and decided to turn professional, foregoing his senior season. Cauley did not miss a cut in the first four PGA Tour events he played, which included a T4 at the

Viking Classic The Sanderson Farms Championship is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour, played annually in Mississippi. It moved to the Country Club of Jackson in Jackson in autumn 2014, early in the 2015 season. The tournament has been part of the P ...

. He also finished T4 at the Nationwide Tour's

Utah Championship The Utah Championship presented by Zions Bank is a professional golf tournament on the Korn Ferry Tour, played at Oakridge Country Club in Farmington, Utah. One of the original tournaments of the 1990 Ben Hogan Tour as the Utah Classic, the tour ...

. Cauley made the cut at the 2011 U.S. Open, finishing T63 and guaranteeing a bypass to the second stage of Q School.Former Alabama golfer Bud Cauley could skip 'Q' school
/ref> Cauley also finished third at the 2011 Frys.com Open, earning $340,000. In 2011, Cauley earned $735,150 in eight PGA Tour starts. He finished the equivalent of 116th on the 2011 money list, joining

Gary Hallberg Gary George Hallberg (born May 31, 1958) is an American professional golfer who has played on the PGA Tour, Nationwide Tour, and Champions Tour. Amateur career Hallberg was born in Berwyn, Illinois. He attended Wake Forest University in Wins ...

Scott Verplank Scott Rachal Verplank (born July 9, 1964) is an American professional golfer, who has played on the PGA Tour and the PGA Tour Champions. Early years and amateur career Born and raised in Dallas, Texas, Verplank was a leading member of the W.T. Wh ...

Phil Mickelson Philip Alfred Mickelson (born June 16, 1970), nicknamed Lefty, is an American professional golfer who plays for LIV Golf. He has won 45 events on the PGA Tour, including six Men's major golf championships, major championships: three Masters To ...

Justin Leonard Justin Charles Garrett Leonard (born June 15, 1972) is an American professional golfer. He has twelve career wins on the PGA Tour, including one major, the 1997 Open Championship. Early years Born and raised in Dallas, Texas, Leonard graduated ...

, Ryan Moore, and

Tiger Woods Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in PGA Tour wins, ranks second in men's major championships, and holds numerous golf records. * * * Woods is widely regarded as ...

as those who avoided Q school and went directly to the PGA Tour after college. In 2012, Cauley's had four top-10 finishes; he was in the top 100 in the

Official World Golf Ranking The Official World Golf Ranking is a system for rating the performance level of professional golfers. It was started in 1986. The rankings are based on a player's position in individual tournaments (i.e. not pairs or team events) over a "rolli ...

by the end of July of that year. In 2013, Cauley made only 10 cuts in 24 events. He played in the Web.com Tour Finals and finished 18th to retain his PGA Tour card for 2014.

Professional wins (1)

Web.com Tour wins (1)

Results in major championships

''Results not in chronological order in 2020.'' CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied for place
NT = No tournament due to

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Results in The Players Championship

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

U.S. national team appearances

Amateur * Junior Ryder Cup: 2006 *

Palmer Cup The Arnold Palmer Cup is an annual team golf competition for college/university golfers. From 2018 it has been contested between a United States team and an International team representing the rest of the world. The teams consist of 12 men and 12 ...

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

Walker Cup The Walker Cup is a golf trophy contested in odd-numbered years by leading male amateur golfers in two teams: United States, and Great Britain and Ireland. The official name is the Walker Cup Match (not "Matches" as in Ryder Cup Matches). It is ...

(winners)

References

External links

* *
Profile on University of Alabama's official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cauley, Bud American male golfers Alabama Crimson Tide men's golfers PGA Tour golfers Korn Ferry Tour graduates Golfers from Jacksonville, Florida Sportspeople from Daytona Beach, Florida People from Hobe Sound, Florida Sportspeople from Martin County, Florida 1990 births Living people