![\"Valero](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/valero-texas-open-2026-round-three-san-antonio-texas-april-e1781458336158.jpg\")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Bud Cauley\u2019s wife Kristi turned the worst Thing in his life to the best thing.<\/p>\n
Bud Cauley faced a life-threatening car accident in June 2018. It was after this incident that he met Kristi, his wife. The worst possible incident in his life led to the best possible outcome for him.<\/p>\n
Now years away from the mishap, with a family and two kids, he is very satisfied with life.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s the best dad.\u00a0He\u2019s super involved and super present,\u201d Kristi said. \u201cWhen he\u2019s here, he\u2019s totally here.\u00a0He\u2019s doing all the school runs and all the drop-offs.\u00a0It softened him up a little bit. It brings out his little playful side, which is great to see.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 2018 Memorial Tournament changed everything. Cauley rode as a passenger in Dublin, Ohio. A devastating car crash shattered his body.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had a broken leg, collapsed lung, six broken ribs and a concussion,\u201d Cauley said<\/a> in PGA Tour\u2019s documentary \u201cMindful\u201d. \u201cSo they put me in the ambulance and that\u2019s when I learned that I had fluid getting into my lungs.\u201d<\/p>\n Bud Cauley\u2019s Worst Life Event Led Him to Wife Kristi<\/p>\n Golf took a backseat during his recovery.<\/p>\n \u201cKristi and I met right after the car accident in 2018,\u201d Cauley said. \u201cYou know, we met through a mutual friend. And had it not been for that car accident, I would have been out on the road playing golf.\u201d<\/p>\n Kristi graduated from the University of Florida. She works as a digital marketing coordinator. Her employer is TGR Ventures, which Tiger Woods founded.<\/p>\n \u201cThe worst thing that\u2019s ever happened to me led to like the best thing that\u2019s ever happened,\u201d Cauley said. \u201cSo it\u2019s just funny how stuff kind of works out.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cGetting married and starting a family, it changed my perspective on life a lot. I spend all day just thinking about them.\u201d<\/p>\n Kristi Helped Him Survive the Darkest of Times<\/p>\n Cauley returned to golf five months later. He played well during the fall schedule. His body felt strong again. Then, a sudden pain in the side of his chest halted his progress.<\/p>\n Doctors attempted to remove surgical plates. His chest wall bone had grown over them. The procedure failed. His condition worsened rapidly.<\/p>\n Medical setbacks plagued him for three years. He visited countless doctors. Hope faded with each failed treatment.<\/p>\n Kristi provided unwavering support. She kept him focused on the future.<\/p>\n \u201cI couldn\u2019t have gotten through any of it without my wife, Kristi,\u201d Cauley said. \u201cThree years is a long time. It was happening to me, but she was really going through it as much as I was.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cShe kind of helped me get through everything,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n A breakthrough finally happened in Jacksonville.<\/p>\n \u201cThe final thing I did up at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, which was the hydro dissection, which finally kind of released some of those muscles in my chest wall and it was able to start swinging and felt a lot better,\u201d Cauley said.<\/p>\n Bud and Kristi married in October 2021. They welcomed their first son shortly after.<\/p>\n Cooper William arrived in November 2022. Miles Henry followed on Jan. 30, 2025. Fatherhood transformed him completely. Cauley returned to the PGA Tour at the 2024 WM Phoenix Open.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tDibyendu Mondal<\/a> Dibyendu Mondal is a contributor for Heavy Sports with special focus on golf, football, basketball and soccer. With more than two years of experience, he has managed to reach close to 7 million people through his writing. He previously worked as a contributor for Athlon Sports and Sportskeeda. More about Dibyendu Mondal<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Bud Cauley\u2019s wife Kristi turned the worst Thing in his life to the best thing. Bud Cauley…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":704245,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[71],"tags":[427,99],"class_list":["post-704244","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-golf","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/704244","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=704244"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/704244\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/704245"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=704244"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=704244"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=704244"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}