Bud Cauley Said 2018 Crash Led Him to Kristi
bud cauley said a life-threatening car accident in June 2018 changed far more than his golf schedule. It led him to Kristi, and he said that if not for the crash, he would have been on the road playing golf.
He described the wreck as leaving him with a broken leg, a collapsed lung, six broken ribs and a concussion. He also said doctors put him in an ambulance before he learned fluid was getting into his lungs.
Bud Cauley and Kristi
Cauley said, "Kristi and I met right after the car accident in 2018," and added, "You 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." He followed that with a sharper reflection: "The worst thing that’s ever happened to me led to like the best thing that’s ever happened."
Kristi graduated from the University of Florida and now works as a digital marketing coordinator for TGR Ventures, the company founded by Tiger Woods. Her role places her inside the same golf world that Cauley was pulled away from after the crash, but their connection started outside a tournament setting and inside a recovery period.
Recovery Across Three Years
The accident did not end with the ambulance ride. Cauley returned to golf five months later, then dealt with sudden pain in the side of his chest that halted his progress. Doctors tried to remove surgical plates, but the procedure failed because his chest wall bone had grown over them.
He said the final thing he did at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville was a hydro dissection that released muscles in his chest wall and helped him start swinging again. The timeline stretches across three years, which he said were as hard on Kristi as they were on him.
Family Life After The Crash
Cauley said marriage and family changed his outlook. "Getting married and starting a family, it changed my perspective on life a lot. I spend all day just thinking about them," he said. He and Kristi now have two kids.
Kristi described him as a father with a different kind of edge than the golfer the public knew before the accident. "He’s the best dad. He’s super involved and super present. When he’s here, he’s totally here. He’s doing all the school runs and all the drop-offs. It softened him up a little bit. It brings out his little playful side, which is great to see."
