Houston Open: Top 10 power rankings at CC of Houston

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HUMBLE, TX – MARCH 29: Bud Cauley watches his tee shot on the 18th hole during the second round of the Shell Houston Open at the Redstone Golf Club on March 29, 2013 in Humble, Texas. (Photo by Scott Halleran/Getty Images) /

Bud Cauley has one of the best Houston Open resumes in the field this week. Albeit winless, the former Alabama Crimson Tide has fattened his wallet with three top-18 finishes in four starts.

As a rookie, Cauley finished T-8 here in 2012 (67-69-73-68). That was one of six top-10s in a year that looked like it would propel the college phenom to an illustrious career.

Injuries and some growing pains have limited that growth. A T-16 in Houston in 2013 (68-74-65-71) was his high finish that year.

He played no more than 18 events in the next three years and did not make it back to this tournament until 2017 where he finished with an MC.

Cauley had a bit of a resurgence in 2018 with seven top-30s in 16 starts. That included a T-18 in Houston (67-69-71-70). He hit 86.11% GIR that week and 64.29% fairways.

The 29-year-old Floridian did enough in 2018-19 to keep his Tour card for this season. He finished T-9 at the Memorial Tournament to highlight nine top-30s.

Cauley is still seeking to get into contention more often. His short game is good enough to get it done if the rest of his game follows.

He was second on Tour in strokes gained around the green (.577). He was 14th in scrambling (64.05%) and 33rd in sand saves (56.43%).

Cauley was also 65th in SG approach (.196) and is an accurate, but short, iron player.

He is teeing it up for the fourth time in 2019-2020. He finished T-14 at the Greenbrier for his best finish.

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