Bud Cauley finally gets what he deserves with maiden PGA Tour victory, plus a check-in on US Open expectations

Bud Cauley wins the RBC Canadian Open nearly eight years after a devastating car accident in Ohio, while the US Open at Shinnecock Hills looms large.

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Every PGA Tour season is different, but also the same. We get different winners at various events throughout the year, and each of those winners carries a different story as to how they found their way into the winner's circle on the PGA Tour. Another tournament, another winner, another unique story, repeat.
It's the story — whatever it may be — that draws us into all sports, but especially so with golf, and 2026 has already produced enough Hollywood-esque finishes for a multi-part documentary.
Gary Woodland winning the Houston Open in March, less than three years after undergoing brain surgery and being diagnosed with PTSD, stands out. Anthony Kim winning LIV Golf Australia in February after living in the shadows for well over a decade certainly stands out. A 45-year-old Brandt Snedeker winning the Myrtle Beach Classic in May after having his sternum surgically rebuilt is up there.
Bud Cauley's victory at the RBC Canadian Open on Sunday, well, it checked all available boxes as well.
This is Par Talk, a weekly read to get you caught up on all the happenings that took place in professional golf that you need to know. You can follow Mark on X @itismarkharris and email him at mark.harris@outkick.com.
Bud Cauley was on track to become one of the guys on the PGA Tour as a former junior golf phenom and an All-American each of the three years he spent playing at Alabama before turning professional in 2011.
Over the course of his first handful of years on Tour, he was essentially the definition of a middling player, doing enough to keep his Tour card but also missing his fair share of cuts each season. Adversity was very much already a part of Cauley's career, and then came the car accident in June 2018.
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After missing the cut at The Memorial in Ohio, Cauley, a passenger in the vehicle, suffered several broken ribs, a collapsed lung, a leg fracture and a concussion after the police explained that the car went off the side of the road, hit a culvert and went airborne before striking a large tree.
Cauley underwent a number of surgeries before returning to action five months later, but was later forced into a hiatus after complications followed by more procedures and an infection, ultimately not playing tournament golf from September 2020 to February 2024.
Most would have quit, but Cauley kept at it. He earned a top-5 finish in October 2024 and then put together a strong campaign in 2025 with four top-10 finishes in 22 starts. Things were certainly heading in the right direction, but winning on the PGA Tour is hard, really hard.
This season, while he hadn't been able to put himself firmly in contention, had been a consistent one for Cauley heading into the Canadian Open, which is where all the adversity, setbacks, and hard work officially paid off.
Nearly eight years to the day of the 2018 accident, in what was his 239th start on Tour, Cauley found himself in the winner's circle. On a Sunday when the leaders of the pack couldn't manage to flip things into a higher gear, Cauley found a way to do so with his final-round 65 to win by two.
"So many events without getting a win, but with everything that our family went through when I was out and then to have my first win when everyone's here, just it kind of seems like perfect timing," Cauley said following the win.
"I hit that putt up there to a few inches, and I kind of stood on the front of the green, and I looked over and saw Kristi, Cooper, and Miles standing there, and I started to tear up," Cauley later continued, talking about his wife and two sons. "I tried to look down. I had a short putt, but I was trying and couldn't see, and so I thought I needed to clear my eyes before I could go up there and tap in."
The golf Cauley played speaks for itself, and while mighty impressive, that concoction of pride and relief Cauley and his family collectively felt after the job was finished made for a memorable scene.
This just in: U.S. Opens held at universally beloved, incredibly difficult golf courses create extreme levels of interest, and we have that this week with Shinnecock Hills.
The last time the U.S. Open was held at the historic track on Long Island in 2018, we were treated to exactly what we wanted, with the winning score being 1 over par and Brooks Koepka earning what was his second straight U.S. Open title. The 2018 U.S. Open still stands as the lone over-par winning score we've seen since 2013.
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As for the biggest storyline you'll hear about at least 187 times before action gets underway on Thursday, it belongs to Scottie Scheffler. Not only is the World No. 1 attempting to complete the career grand slam this week, but Sunday's final round also happens to be his 30th birthday as well as Father's Day.
It's not difficult whatsoever to picture Scheffler standing with the U.S. Open trophy on Sunday, alongside his wife and two young boys, celebrating life and career accomplishments as just the seventh player ever to complete the slam. Scheffler also hasn't won a golf tournament since January, which is considered a drought for him, so ending the dry spell on the biggest stage possible would be poetic.
Scheffler is the favorite, but the usual suspects of Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Xander Schauffele, Cameron Young, and plenty of others will be part of the story, with Shinnecock itself likely being the main character.
The golf will be a test, the sightlines will be as good as they get, the scores will be on the higher side, and the U.S. Open will deliver.
A bold list of predictions for a tournament held at one of the best pieces of property on Earth, but it's those kinds of opinions that keep readers coming back.