It was a long climb for Bud Cauley, but he finally made it.
Cauley birdied three consecutive holes on the back nine during the final round of the RBC Canadian Open on his way to shooting 5-under-par 65 and winning on the PGA Tour for the first time Sunday in Caledon, Ontario.
Cauley, 36, had never finished higher than third since turning pro in 2011. The RBC Canadian Open was his 239th PGA Tour event — most of them coming prior a 2018 car accident that broke six of his ribs, fractured his leg and forced a collapsed lung.
“Just how hard that was,” said Cauley, reflecting on his journey. “Just so many people helped me get here and I’m just really thankful for all the help that I’ve gotten.”
Cauley ended up at 17-under 263 for a two-stroke victory over England’s Matt Fitzpatrick.
Fitzpatrick shot 64, finishing his round with a 12-foot eagle putt on No. 18 after a bogey on the previous hole pretty much dashed his hopes of winning the tournament at rainy TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley’s North course.
Norway’s Viktor Hovland (65) claimed third at 14 under.
Cauley used four birdies, including a chip-in on No. 12, on a five-hole stretch (Nos. 11 to 15) to pull away from the pack for a three-shot lead.
“I’m just very proud of the way I kind of kept going and continued to make birdies there on the back nine and I’m just so happy,” he said.
Fitzpatrick generally liked his performance.
“It’s a good week,” he said. “I would have taken it at the start of the week. I felt like there was a lot of good stuff in there.”
Jimmy Stanger trailed by three going to No. 18, but an approach into the water cost him and he bogeyed the hole and settled for 67. At 13 under, he tied with Jackson Suber (70), Brice Garnett (68) and Sweden’s Jesper Svensson (68) for fourth place. Suber led Cauley by one shot through three rounds.
Still, Suber had a worthwhile experience, gaining entry later this year in the British Open and Travelers based on the result. He qualified for the U.S. Open during a Monday qualifier at the beginning of the week.
“To be able to play in the U.S. Open next week, Travelers, and then the British Open, I mean, that’s a pretty big schedule change, especially coming into the year with conditional status,” Suber said.
Defending champion Ryan Fox of New Zealand posted 68 and tied with two others — Canadian Sudarshan Yellamaraju (68) and South African Aldrich Potgieter (65) — at 12 under.
“Obviously going into the week, it was like you have that little bit of added pressure being at the Canadian Open and for me being pretty close to home and stuff like that,” Yellamaraju said. “I just kind of tried to keep trying to tell myself to play the best that I could and just fight until the very end, which was pretty much what I did.”
Second-round leader Ben James recovered from a disastrous third round to shoot 69 and tie for 54th place at 3 under in his PGA Tour debut.
Brooks Koepka, who was a co-leader after a first-round 64, withdrew prior to the final round citing a hand injury. After a 72 on Saturday, he stood at 6 under through three rounds.
The start of Sunday’s round was pushed back because of concerns related to the weather forecast. Golfers were sent off the first and 10th tees in threesomes.
–Field Level Media
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