Okay, so I’ve been digging into this whole PGA Tour caddie thing, and let me tell you, it’s way more interesting than I thought. I mean, I always figured these guys were just lugging clubs around, but there’s a whole financial side to it that’s pretty wild.
So, first off, I started looking into how much these caddies actually make. Turns out, it’s not just a flat fee. They get a weekly salary, which I found out is usually somewhere between $1,500 and $3,000. Not bad, right? But here’s where it gets interesting. They also get a cut of their player’s winnings. I did some digging and found out that a caddie, Bryan Kopsick, works with this player, Ben Silverman, and he mentioned something about percentages.
From what I gathered, if the player wins the tournament, the caddie gets 10% of the winnings. If the player makes it into the top 10, the caddie gets 7%. And even if the player just makes the cut, the caddie still gets 5%. That’s a pretty sweet deal, especially when you consider that some of these tournaments have huge payouts. I mean, I read that Scottie Scheffler earned $62 million this season alone! Imagine getting 10% of that.
But it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. I learned that caddies have to pay for all their own expenses – flights, hotels, rental cars, food, the whole nine yards. So, that weekly salary they get? It helps cover those costs. And get this, even if their player misses the cut and doesn’t win any money, the caddie still gets paid their weekly salary. That’s a relief, for sure.
Then I started wondering about the big-name players. Like, how much does Rory McIlroy pay his caddie, Harry Diamond? I did some more research, and it seems like caddies for top players like McIlroy can make a ton of money. We’re talking a base salary of around $2,000 per week, plus those percentages of the winnings. It’s a pretty lucrative gig if you’re working for one of the best.
Here is what I did to find all of this out:
- Searched for “PGA Tour caddie earnings” and “how much do PGA Tour caddies make” to get a general idea.
- Looked for specific examples, like the mention of Bryan Kopsick and Ben Silverman, to see real-world scenarios.
- Tried to understand the different factors affecting caddie pay, such as player performance and tournament payouts.
- Investigated what happens when a player misses the cut, to see if caddies still get paid.
- Explored how much caddies for top players like Rory McIlroy might earn, to get a sense of the upper end of the pay scale.
So yeah, that’s what I’ve been up to. It’s been a fun little deep dive into the world of PGA Tour caddies. Who knew there was so much to it?
