PGA Tour’s Bud Cauley ‘thankful to be alive’ after ‘scary’ accident

DUBLIN, Ohio — PGA Tour player Bud Cauley says he’s thankful to be alive after a car accident over the weekend on what he describes as the “scariest night of my life.”

Cauley, 28, was riding with three other people in a car involved in an accident late Friday following the second round of the Memorial. Cauley posted a message on Instagram saying he had surgery on Sunday.

Even though he missed the cut at the Memorial, Cauley was staying in Ohio for U.S. Open qualifying on Monday. He withdrew from the qualifier, and said in his Instagram post Monday that he had no timetable for returning to the PGA Tour.

Justin Thomas, the world’s No. 1 player and one of Cauley’s closest friends, says he saw him in the hospital the day after the accident.

“It calmed me a lot after seeing him,” Thomas said Saturday. “I couldn’t hit a shot, couldn’t play a hole, without thinking about him.”

Both went to Alabama and were roommates on tour.

Cauley has yet to win on the PGA Tour, though he earned a PGA Tour card at age 21 without having to go through Q-school. He has earned just over $900,000 this year and is No. 141 in the world ranking.