To preview the 2013 PGA TOUR season, PGATOUR.COM is counting down the Top 100 Players to Watch in 2013. For an archive page with the top 100 players and for an explanation on how the list was compiled, click here.

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2013 PREVIEW: With a year that included six top-10 finishes under his belt, 22-year-old Bud Cauley seems poised for success in 2013. The former Alabama All-American was remarkably consistent, finishing 25th or better in nearly half of the events where he made the cut, and came within eight spots of advancing to the TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola in his first full season on TOUR.

2012 DEFINING MOMENT: Cauley started the final round of the Wyndham Championship one shot off the pace being set by Sergio Garcia, then ended up in sole possession of third. It was his third finish of fourth or better in his last three starts, and matched his career best finish at the 2011 Frys.com Open. –- Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM

ALBERS’ QUICK TAKE: I guess I was a little disappointed in Bud's season but that's more a reflection of my high expectations than in Cauley's performance. He had six Top 10 finishes and was 35th in the FedEx Cup Regular Season. I thought he would win in 2012 and am predicting a victory for him in 2013. -- Fred Albers, SiriusXM PGA TOUR Radio

BOLTON’S FANTASY OUTLOOK: On his way. Arguably best among the rookies that didn't win in 2012. Went 21-for-28 with six top 10s and $1.774 million. Found a zone late, posting top fives in three of four starts to end the regular season. Amassed 28 starts, a total gamers would love to see him repeat but can't expect. Showcased a wonderful touch around greens -- ranked eighth in scrambling and sixth in sand saves -- a skill set that should prevent a sophomore slump. -- Rob Bolton, PGATOUR.COM Fantasy expert

SOCIAL MEDIA: Find him on Twitter

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2012 QUICK REVIEW

Regular Season ranking 35th

Final Playoffs ranking 38th

Best finishes

3rd

Wyndham Championship

By the Numbers Starts: 28 Cuts made: 21 Rounds played: 99 Top-10 finishes: 6 Money List rank: 44th

TOUR ranking Driving distance: 74th Driving accuracy: 112th Greens in regulation: 51st Strokes gained-putting: 84th Scoring average: 51st

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NOW IT’S YOUR TURN What is your prediction for Bud Cauley in 2013? Fill out the form below and let us know

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – The nominees for 2012 PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year were released on Monday -- Charlie Beljan, Jonas Blixt, Bud Cauley, John Huh and Ted Potter Jr.

Players were nominated by the PGA TOUR Player Directors and members of the Player Advisory Council (PAC). The awards are determined by a member vote, with PGA TOUR members who played in at least 15 official money events in 2012 eligible to vote. The balloting process ends on Nov. 30, with the winner to be announced in early December.

A quick look at each Rookie of the Year nominee:

CHARLIE BELJAN: Won one event (Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals Classic), posted three-top-10 finishes, finished 63rd on official money list and 160th in FedExCup points

JONAS BLIXT: Won one event (Frys.com Open), posted five top-10 finishes, finished 34th on the official money list and 71st in FedExCup points

BUD CAULEY: Posted six-top 10 finishes, finished 44th on official money list and 38th in FedExCup points

JOHN HUH: Won one event (Mayakoba Golf Classic), posted four top-10 finishes, finished 28th on official money list and 29th in FedExCup points

TED POTTER JR.: Won one event (The Greenbrier Classic) for his only top-10 finish, finished 62nd on official money list and 93rd in FedExCup points

For more information, click here | Who’s your Player of the Year?

Now it’s your turn: Who do you think will win this year’s Rookie of the Year?

By Bill Cooney, PGATOUR.COM ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. -- A driver and a wedge. Bud Cauley used those two clubs to make the game of golf look rather easy on Thursday afternoon. Backed by some long and accurate tee shots, Cauley took dead aim with his wedges to produce a competitive course record-tying, 8-under 62 during the first round of The McGladrey Classic. It gave the Jacksonville, Fla., native a share of the lead with Marco Dawson. Greg Owen, Boo Weekley and Rod Pampling were tied for third place, two shots back after 64s. Cauley hit 13 of 14 fairways and 14 greens in regulation during his low round on the TOUR. He hit all seven fairways and hit eight of nine greens during a back-nine 29 in which he birdied five of the first six holes. "Really no complaints today," said Cauley, who has six top 10s this season but is still searching for his first career victory. "I've been struggling with my driving a little bit, and I've been working hard on that and was able to drive it really well today. "And then took advantage of that with some great iron shots and made most of the putts, so all in all it was a really good day." Dawson, 48, is also looking for his first win. His best finish is second at the 1995 Greater Milwaukee Open. "You know, I just made some good putts coming in," Dawson said. "I haven't played well all year, and when I have played decent or had a good round going, I managed to screw it up somehow." Dawson said that made him anxious after he got to 7 under and led to his lone bogey on the fourth hole. But he bounced back with birdies on Nos. 5 and 6 and finished nicely. In 20 events this season, Dawson's best finish is a T52 at the Farmers Insurance Open in January. But he's fought through the tough times and finds himself 54 holes from a rewarding finish. "That would be real huge," Dawson said. "So I'm looking forward to doing that. So I've got a good start so far.

By Brian Wacker, PGATOUR.COM

A year ago, Justin Rose chipped in for birdie on the penultimate hole of the BMW Championship and held off John Senden by two shots to win the BMW Championship. The victory moved Rose from 34th to third in the FedExCup standings and punched his ticket to the TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola.

Those outside the top 30 in the standings entering this week are hoping for a similar fate. Six players moved outside the bubble to inside it in the first week of the FedExCup Playoffs, and nine turned the trick last week.

Who, if anyone, will move from outside the top 30 and advance to East Lake in two weeks? Here’s a closer look at five players who I think could bust this week’s bubble. Fill out the form below and let us know which players from outside the top 30 you think will advance.

Bud Cauley (No. 33): For the second straight year, Cauley is playing his best golf when the pressure has been on. Last season, Cauley finished third at the Frys.com Open and 15th at the McGladrey Classic to lock up a card and avoid q-school. This year, Cauley has three finishes in the top 4 in his last six starts. One of those was a tie for 10th at The Barclays. Only four rookies have reached the TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola since the inception of the FedExCup in 2007, but if Cauley can putt the way he did at Bethpage, I think he’ll advance. Click here for FedExCup Tracker

Seung-Yul Noh (No. 38): In Noh’s last 10 events, he’s finished outside the top 30 just twice (and one of those was a 31st-place finish). He tied for 13th last week in Boston, 21st at the PGA Championship and a season-best fourth at the AT&T National in July. Noh is also long off the tee, averaging just over 300 yards, and ranks in the top 25 in greens in regulation. He’s also pretty good with the flat stick (60th in strokes gained-putting). I think Noh not only advances, I think he flirts with the top of the leaderboard at Crooked Stick.

William McGirt (No. 39): By his own admission, McGirt has been watching the FedExCup standings since the week after the U.S. Open. He responded, too, finishing 13th at the Travelers Championship before adding a fifth-place finish in Mississippi and a runner-up in Canada. In his first two Playoffs events, McGirt finished 10th and 26th, respectively. The latter moved him up seven spots, so he’ll probably need something slightly better to make it to East Lake. But if McGirt can roll it the way he has each of the last two weeks, he’ll have a good chance.

Jeff Overton (No. 40): The Indiana native could either collapse under the pressure of trying to perform in front of a hometown audience, or thrive in it. I’m going with the latter, especially with Crooked Stick being a big ballpark and Overton being a big hitter. He seemed to have found something last week in Boston, where he tied for seventh.

Vijay Singh (No. 49): Given his position, Singh is going to need a very good week to climb into the top 30. But the 49-year-old has also done a nice job of managing his schedule with a couple of weeks off in what’s been a very busy stretch of golf. Singh contended at the PGA Championship before fading on the weekend, and he’s done the same for the most part in each of his last two starts -- which is certainly a concern. But the big Fijian played his way to East Lake last year with a tie for third at The Barclays after failing to reach the TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola each of the previous two years, and I could see him doing it again this week at Crooked Stick.

The first four months of the season went relatively well for Bud Cauley.

In his first dozen starts in his first full year on the PGA TOUR, he recorded five to-20 finishes, including a season-best tie for fourth at Bay Hill.

Then Cauley found out it’s not that easy. He missed three straight cuts and failed to finish in the top 25 in seven starts.

“I think I maybe hit the wall a little bit,” he said. “It's a lot of golf.”

Cauley turned things around, though, when he visited his coach the week before the True South Classic. He went on to tie for fourth in Mississippi.

Friday, he kept that momentum going with a 7-under 63 to move into contention at the RBC Canadian Open.

“I played a lot in the beginning,” Cauley continued. “I feel a little more refreshed now.”

He’s playing like it, too.

Cauley made six birdies, an eagle and just one bogey Friday. He took only 26 putts after hitting 14 greens in regulation.

“Putting helps everything,” Cauley said. “I need to keep doing what I'm doing. I played well last week, put four good rounds together and two solid rounds this week. I'll just try to keep it going.”

By Ryan Smithson, PGA TOUR.COM Ernie Els' belly putter garnered a lot of attention when he used it to win his fourth major last week, but his real secret weapon was a club Call;away designed to replace long irons. Yep, even Els, one of the best ball-strikers in the world, decided he needed more help in the form of a hybrid. But not the normal hybrid. Roger Cleveland, Callaway's top club designer, unleashed a new utility iron -- designed after the driving irons that have been around for years -- but with a few twists. The new iron has adjustable weights in the sole, and perhaps just as important, can be bent like other forged irons. Els placed the Callaway X Utility Prototype (18°, 21°, 24°) irons his bag a few weeks ago, but it wasn't until Royal Lytham that he had Cleveland adjust the lie angle. He had them bent a half-degree flat, and Els went on to have one of the best ball-striking weeks of his career. The new club has quickly made its way into the bags of several others including Graeme McDowell, who just added the 18-degree version, replacing a 2-iron. “I wanted to enhance that design into a three-loft concept with a new club design that was shallower, had a deeper CG, and that created a higher launch angle, which is difficult to achieve in longer irons," Cleveland said. Now, the question for the consumers: Will Callaway's design reach pro shops? For the immediate future, the answer is no, but Els' big win might coax Callaway to have it available in the future. TITLEISTS' 913 DRIVER SPREADING: Adam Scott and True South Classic winner Scott Stallings are still playing the older 910D3 driver, but more and more players are switching to the new 913D prototype. Jason Bohn (913D3) had it in his bag for the True South Classic, as did rookie Bud Cauley (913D2). Both finished in the top five, and Cauley, all 150 pounds of him, averaged 284 yards a pop. That was good for 11th in the field. PING ANSER READY: Ping's new adjustable driver and fairway woods are ready to hit the pro shops. The Anser driver is available in 8.5º, 9.5º, 10.5º and 12º lofts. The Anser fairway woods are offered in a 3-wood (14.5º), 4-wood (16.5º), and 5-wood (18.5º). Each is adjusted using a torque wrench to change loft and face angle. WINNER'S BAG: Ernie Els at the British Open Driver: Callaway RAZR Fit, 8.5° 3-wood: Callaway X-TOUR 15.0° Irons: Callaway RAZR X Muscleback Irons (5-9, PW), KBS Tour X-flex Hybrids: Callaway X Utility Prototype (18°, 21°, 24°) Wedges: Callaway JAWS (52°, 60°) Putter: Odyssey White Hot XG #1 Belly Ball: Callaway HEX Black Tour WINNER'S BAG: Scott Stallings at the True South Classic Driver: Pro V1x, 910D3 driver (8.5°) 3-wood: 909F2 fairway metal (13.5°) Irons: AP2 irons (4-9) Wedges: Vokey Design Spin Milled pitching (48°, 52°, 56°, 60°) Putter: Scotty Cameron Newport 2 Studio Select Ball: Pro V1x

There are a lot of positives a young pro can take from a week like this. Bud Cauley’s furious Sunday charge that featured eight birdies in 16 holes put the 22-year-old in his best position to win a PGA TOUR event. A late bogey left the rookie alone in fourth – his second consecutive fourth-place finish at Annandale. Cauley was two back with two holes to play before getting up-and-down for par on the 17th and hitting two poor shots on the closing hole which led to a bogey, taking him out of contention at the True South Classic. “I knew I had to make birdie or eagle on 18, probably eagle,” he said. “I was just trying to get the ball in the fairway somehow, made a bad swing, and hit it about the worst place I possibly could.” Cauley’s tee shot found a fairway bunker, eliminating any chance he had of going for the par-5 green in two. After laying up, Cauley attacked a tough pin from 176 yards away and found the water hazard guarding the front and left sides of the green. He wound up finishing five shots behind Stallings but the leaderboard would have looked much different down the stretch had Cauley post 21 or 22 under. After earning his TOUR card straight out of college via last season’s non-member money list, Cauley got his rookie campaign off to a very good start with seven top-30 finishes in his first 12 starts. Since then, however, he’d missed four cuts in seven starts with no top 30s. After 16 consecutive rounds in the 70s, Cauley has posted rounds in the 60s in six of his last eight times out, including three this week. “I’ve been kind of struggling a little bit but worked really hard on my game with my coach last week,” Cauley said. “A lot of positive things this week and (I’ll) try to keep it going.” Cauley will look to carry his momentum north next week. He is scheduled to play in the RBC Canadian Open at Hamilton G&CC that gets under way on Thursday.

Bud Cauley has put himself in the mix at Annandale for the second consecutive year. He made his eighth birdie of the day (below) on No. 16 to pull into a third-place tie. Cauley is looking to improve upon his current 72nd-place FedExCup standing and last season's tie for fourth in this event.