Bud Cauley and Michael Thompson Excel on PGA Tour
10/18/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Oct. 18, 2011
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Former University of Alabama golfers Bud Cauley and Michael Thompson appear to have secured their 2012 PGA Tour cards with one week remaining on the PGA's 2011 schedule.
Cauley, who just turned pro following the 2011 NCAA Championships in June, pocketed another check this past weekend - for $64,000 - with a tie for 15th at the McGladrey Classic after an 8-under-par 272 at the Seaside Course at Sea Island. He has now earned $735,150 in eight PGA Tour starts, making the cut seven times.
Thompson, who was a member of the PGA Tour in 2011 after earning his card through Q-school last fall, finished third at the McGladrey Classic to earn a check for $272,000. He is 94th on the money list, which will earn him a second year on the PGA Tour.
The top 125 on the PGA money list at the end of the season automatically earn their tour card for the 2012 season. As a non-tour member, Cauley's earnings would need to place him inside that top 125. He would currently rank 112th on the money list, $89,315 ahead of James Driscoll, who enters the final weekend in 125th.
It would take a large number of players between No. 120 and 130 to push Cauley out of the top 125. Cauley, a native of Jacksonville, Fla., will be playing in the Nationwide Tour's Winn-Dixie Jacksonville Open at the TPC Sawgrass Dye's Valley Course.
Cauley is looking to become just the sixth player in PGA Tour history to earn his card after leaving college that summer and turning pro. He would be the first player to do it since UNLV's Ryan Moore in 2005 and join a prestigious group that also includes Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Justin Leonard and Gary Hallberg.
Thompson, who will be in this week's field at the Children's Miracle Network Classic, has two top-5 finishes this season and five top-25 showings. he earned $935,265 in 2011.
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