Bud Cauley secures U.S. Open bid with 1st PGA Tour win at Canadian Open

The final PGA Tour event before the United States Open took place north of the border, with Bud Cauley taking home the RBC Canadian Open. It marks Cauley’s first PGA Tour win in his 239th career start, and he picked it up with an incredible back nine. The 36-year-old poured in 4 back-nine birdies to run away from the field, winning by two.

A champion at last!!

Bud Cauley wins the 2026 RBC Canadian Open! pic.twitter.com/Dv96A3qTss

— Golf Digest (@GolfDigest) June 14, 2026

Cauley entered the day behind Jackson Suber on the leaderboard. They played with each other in the final group, and Cauley completely outclassed the 26-year-old Suber. As the youngster sprayed his driver all over the course, Cauley made five consecutive threes on the back nine.

Cauley needed a top-five finish at the Canadian Open to qualify for the U.S. Open, which begins Thursday at Shinnecock Hills. Now, he needs a trip to the Hamptons booked quickly, as he is in the national championship for the fourth time in his career. The Floridian missed the cut in 2025 and 2017. He finished T63 in 2011 at Congressional.

Cauley suffered rib and arm injuries during a 2018 car crash in Dublin, Ohio. A quick return did not last, as he missed nearly four years of action between 2020-24. He emerged on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2024 and has been on a steady climb since. Now, he is in the PGA Tour winner’s circle and back in the US Open.

Matthew Fitzpatrick, Sam Burns, Tommy Fleetwood, and Wyndham Clark all finished in the top ten. Whether the Canadian Open means anything for their US Open performance is yet to be seen. But Clark and Fitzpatrick have won the US Open before, and Fleetwood shot 63 at Shinnecock back in 2018.

Cauley went out and stole the Canadian Open on the back nine on Sunday. That win will qualify him for the big-money events this year and next, which could put him in a new stratosphere career-wise.

Getting ready for US Open after Bud Cauley Canadian Open win

The US Open is back at Shinnecock Hills for the first time since 2018 next week. Brooks Koepka won that title, his second US Open in a row, and is now back on the PGA Tour. But at the Canadian Open, Koepka withdrew due to a hand injury, which has fans concerned.

The Canadian Open did provide a nice boost for Viktor Hovland, who has been absent from major championship competition since last year’s US Open. He finished tied for third at TPC Toronto, his best finish of the year. Since a third-place finish at Oakmont last June, Hovland has not truly contended in a major.

The storyline at the US Open will once again be Rory McIlroy vs Scottie Scheffler. Scheffler is looking to become the seventh man to complete the career Grand Slam, just over a year after McIlroy did it himself. The No. 1 player in the world will turn 30 on Sunday. McIlroy won the Masters for the second straight year and could become the 12th man with at least seven major championships.

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