VALSPAR CHAMPIONSHIP

March 23, 2025

Bud Cauley

Innisbrook Resort (Copperhead)

Quick Quotes

Q. Bogey-free on a Sunday at any tournament is good, but here it's extra special. Talk about that round a little bit.

BUD CAULEY: I played really well. I got off to a great start with a few birdies. And then I had a couple great saves on the back nine. 10 was a great save. 13. Obviously 16, chipping in there for par. So, yeah, I really played solid, and then when I got in trouble I was able to get myself out of it.

Q. What was your mindset starting the day?

BUD CAULEY: Obviously still in it. This tournament, the leaderboard's always so bunched you feel like if you have a good day you can really kind of jump up there towards the lead. So getting off to a good start was obviously huge. Birdieing the first and then a couple more on 4 and 5 was a great way to get me going.

Q. You had showed some emotion on that par chip-in on 16. Could you talk about where that emotion came from because you're usually pretty low key out there?

BUD CAULEY: Yeah, I was in such a bad spot over there. I hit a great drive, which you almost feel like that's the hardest part on that hole. Really not that difficult of an iron shot and I came out of it. And it was plugged. It felt like it was, you know, maybe the worst plug I ever had. So I did pretty well to get it where I was. And I was just thinking just give it a chance. I was trying to make sure I had it lined up just right and luckily it went in and it was just a lot of fun.

Q. At what point in your comeback did you feel like your game was ready to contend and win out here?

BUD CAULEY: I feel like I've been kind of building towards that. The things you've been working on I feel like I've been making little progress kind of every week. These last couple weeks everything's started to come together a little bit where my ball striking's been there, short game, had some good days putting and I feel like it's all coming together.

Q. Overall in a general sense are you kind of happy -- able to look back at the big picture and be happy to be here or do you lock back into that competitive mode you've always had?

BUD CAULEY: No, yeah, you go right back into the competitive mode. When I'm out there I'm not thinking about anything that's happened in my past, just trying to play as well as I can and, yeah, when I'm out there it's like nothing ever happened.

Q. Then in general what's it mean to be in contention on the PGA TOUR down the stretch on a Sunday and have that chance?

BUD CAULEY: Yeah, it was a lot of fun. After being in contention last week I said to a couple people that I just can't wait to put myself in that position again and sort of apply the experience I felt like I gained last weekend. I feel like I did a good job of that today. I got off to a good start and when I got in trouble I was able to hang in there. I feel like we made a lot of good decisions and even if it comes up a little short today I'm really happy with the day.

Q. Was there a weight off your shoulders fulfilling the medical, or was that not really too much of a stressor the last few weeks?

BUD CAULEY: Probably a little bit. Not a ton. I knew that I still had a decent amount of starts and not that many points, but it is kind of nice to not even have it in the back of your head. To just be totally done with it, so, yeah, probably a little bit.

Q. J.T. said last week, I don't know if you saw the clip, that he would do some weird things for you to win, and now you're kind of contending with him. What's it meant to just have his support throughout the journey?

BUD CAULEY: Yeah, it's been great. J.T.'s a great friend of mine and just makes what we do out here more enjoyable, just life more enjoyable overall, just having good buddies like him, it's been great.

Q. Do you have to hope he plays 1-over the last seven right now or how do you spend the next hour and a half?

BUD CAULEY: I don't know. I might just maybe get some food and not watch for like 30 minutes or 45 minutes or so and then check back in. You don't want to sit there and actively root against a bunch of guys it almost seems like bad karma, maybe the best thing to do is just not watch and then I'll check back in a couple later.

Q. At what point do you make a decision when you check back in, what do you do, do you stay, do you go, how do you work that out?

BUD CAULEY: I'm just going to stick around. What are they on like 12 right now or something, so maybe give it 45 minutes and then look again. See where we're at. See if I need to pack everything up or go hit some balls.