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Bud Cauley is set to make his PGA Tour comeback this week at the 2024 WM Phoenix Open. The 33-year-old golfer will return to the competitive field after being sidelined for three-plus years due to injuries. The TPC Scottsdale outing will mark his first event since the 2020 Fortinet Championship.
Cauley suffered a single-car accident in 2018. The golfer, who was a passenger in the vehicle, sustained six broken ribs, a broken leg, and a collapsed lung. While he recovered and resumed his playing career, his injuries never fully healed. The golfer is now set to make a comeback and surprisingly revealed that his “swing is virtually the same” as when he last left the field.
Speaking ahead of the 2024 WM Phoenix Open in Arizona, Bud Cauley said, as quoted by Golfweek:
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“When you grow up doing it every day and you play golf every day, and when it gets taken away, it does change your perspective on just how fortunate we are to be able to play golf and even to get to do the thing that you enjoy doing… The last couple days even have been a lot of fun to see a lot of familiar faces and guys I haven't seen in a while”
It is pertinent to note that Cauley got back on the Korn Ferry Tour last month. The golfer made two rehab starts in The Bahamas, finishing T-21 and T-35.
“(Playing in The Bahamas) was a lot of fun, and it's even better to be back here, a place I've played quite a few times and really enjoy this tournament… My golf swing is virtually the same. I’m lucky that even though I’ve had so many things happen to my side, I haven’t lost any speed or anything, and my range of motion is the same,” he added.
For the unversed, Bud Cauley’s car accident occurred on a Friday during the Memorial Tournament 2018. The golfer was rushed to the emergency after he suffered six broken ribs, a collapsed right lung, and a fractured left leg.
Recalling the intensity of the crash, the Florida native later stated that he was “thankful to be alive.”
Justin Thomas is happy for Bud Cauley's comeback
Thomas is enjoying Bud Cauley’s comeback. The PGA Tour star, who began at Alabama in the fall of 2011 - a semester after Cauley became a pro, is a strong follower of the 33-year-old. Thomas was one of the first to rush to the hospital after Cauley’s crash. The two-time Major winner spent most of the night with his friend in the emergency.
Commenting on his friend’s comeback to the competitive field, Justin Thomas was quoted as saying by PGATOUR.com:
“I’m so, so excited Bud is back. He’s one of my best friends in the world… I'm really happy and proud of him because I know he's had a lot of time and thinking of is this going to ever get fixed, is it going to be cured, am I going to play golf again. I know how good Bud is and I know his raw talent. I just wanted to keep him positive and keep telling him because my thing I always said is it's going to work out… just time will heal.”
Bud Cauley is set to tee off at the WM Phoenix Open on Thursday, February 8, at 2:00 pm ET. He will join the likes of Sam Ryder and Thomas Detry on the first tee at TPC Scottsdale.
