In sports, numbers can be deceiving.
They can flatten the truth—changing our perception of reality into binary narratives of “good” and “bad.” They can leave out the nuance, the subtlety, that makes an athlete great or contributes to his demise. They can tell us convenient lies.
But sometimes numbers can reveal the entirety of a complicated truth. As, for example, in the case of Bud Cauley, where a statistic tells the whole truth and nothing but it.
The statistics in question? Two hundred and thirty nine. Otherwise known as the number of starts between Cauley’s first PGA Tour event and his first major tour victory, which came in Sunday night at the RBC Canadian Open.
On the one hand, for a golfer capable of making no more than 30 starts in a year, 239 starts without a win is an impressive stretch of futility. Even in a sport played on very thin margins with many skilled competitors, random chance suggests that you will achieve at least one win in 239 starts.
On the other hand, the record of 239 starts on the PGA Tour is not only impressive, but straightforward outstanding. Win or not, it takes a great golfer to make 239 PGA Tour starts in a career. Returning to the arena that many times suggests not just competence, but longevity. It suggests a will power. It suggests stability.
Cauley showed us each of those things Sunday afternoon at the RBC Canadian Open, where he finally got his first PGA Tour victory. From the time he stepped on the 10th ball to the time he reached a major tournament level, every ounce of Cauley’s longevity and willpower and stamina were tested by the course at TPC Toronto, which raged down the back nine on a gray Sunday afternoon.
Cauley’s defining moment arrived on the 12th hole, when he went inside for a second fairway birdie from the far side of the green. Cauley raised his club, half-surprised and half-impressed, as he dropped into the hole — the look on his face reflecting the kind of even-keeled putt that should last a long time on the PGA Tour. His birdies on three of his next four holes to run and hide reflected the kind of mental toughness that comes from too many near misses. And his gutsy level at the last – needing only one bogey to win the golf tournament – ​​reflected the strength of will that comes with realizing that the greatest adversary exists within.
But these were only the visible scenes on Sunday. Not the moments over the past fifteen years when Cauley’s game blossomed from a decorated young player to a winless PGA Tour veteran. Not the thrills that came after each of those near misses, 29 top-10s, when victory was so close and yet so obviously far away. And certainly not the pain that came after a car accident outside the village of Muirfield eight years ago, when doctors inserted a metal plate into his chest and cast serious doubt on his ability to play golf professionally again.
If you wanted to know the weight of all that stuff, you had to wait until the show ended Sunday night, when Cauley, his wife and two children shared a tearful celebration on the 18th green. Cauley didn’t let his emotions get to him all week at TPC Toronto, gently deflecting questions from reporters asking about the excitement that might accompany his first victory.
“I don’t really want to think about it right now,” he said.
He finally thought about it after his first putt landed on the hole, securing a win and much more than that – and with no golf left to play, the tears fell.
“(I’m thinking) how hard it was,” Cauley said. “Just so many people helped me get here and I’m really grateful for all the help I’ve gotten.”
It was revealed that Cauley’s first emotion in victory was not joy, but gratitude. Discovering Cauley’s makeup and his journey.
“As soon as I got the chance to start playing again, I just told myself I’m going to try to do everything the right way and give myself the best chance,” he said. “I put my wife through so much during those dark times and it’s just nice to have a little success as a kind of thank you.”
That gratitude was evident for all to see on Sunday’s 18th at the RBC Canadian Open, where Bud Cauley finished a 239 start with a new record.
PGA Tour wins: One.
