Brad Mangin/getty iM
ages8 golfdigest.com | may 2019
The Golf Life Mr. X
Undercover Tour Pro
Economics 101
for hiring club caddies
E
very week on the PGA
Tour there’s a discrep-
ancy over money.
Somebody hasn’t been paid
what they think they’re owed.
Multiple times I’ve had caddies
who worked for me previously
call to say their new boss hasn’t
paid them in a while, and
might I nudge that player? Cad-
dies are a desperate lot. Too of-
ten they’re so happy to get a
bag that they start without a
clear agreement. Given the
stakes, it’s the obligation of the
player to spell it out. It’s an
eight-second conversation to
say, “$1,500 for the week, 5 per-
cent of a made cut, 7 percent of
a top 10, 10 percent for a win,
you’ll get a check at the end of
the week”—which, by the way,
is the most common deal out
here. And I’ve never heard of a
caddie walking away because
an offer was too low. The pro
holds all the power to do the
right thing. Or not.I was floored when I heard
about Matt Kuchar paying the
local caddie five grand after he
won $1.29 million in Mexico.
I’ve been out to dinner with
Matt and know him as a witty,
stand-up guy. I’m not going to
skewer him further, because
the media already has (rightly,
prompting Kuchar to up the
pay to $50,000), but I will add
how little sense it made from a
tax perspective. Kooch could’ve
given the caddie $129,000 and
written it off as a business
expense. Instead of changing
the lives of that man’s family,
a much bigger chunk will go to
the government.
There’s wiggle room in the
weekly rate if it’s a Web.com
event or I have a local caddie
who hasn’t incurred travel
expenses—but I believe those
percentages are sacrosanct.A human being has thrown his
hat in the ring alongside mine.
He’s passed up other opportu-
nities. Although caddieing isn’t
rocket science, I’m trusting this
person to potentially influence
a situation that could alter my
career. The least I can do is let
him be part of the action. Bud-
dies included. If I’m going to
a “vacation” destination like
Phoenix or Puerto Rico, often
I’ll invite a friend to loop. I’m
not paying a weekly rate, but
I’ll cover the airfare, hotel,
food and bar tabs. If I make a
paycheck, he’s getting the same
percentage I’d give a full-time
caddie. My bud took a week off
work to hang with me.
In my career I’ve used a lot
of local caddies. Most pros do
it only if they’re in a pinch, but
if it’s an unfamiliar course, I’d
rather have a guy who’s seen ev-
ery putt a thousand times. Last
year when the Byron Nelson
moved to Trinity Forest, I called
ahead to reserve a local, and it
worked out great. I think the
guy saved me two shots, which
was worth a lot of money for
me (and him) that week. Obvi-
ously, the risk is getting saddled
with a goofy personality for five
days. But if you enjoy meeting
new people, it’s fun and eco-nomical. I know one pro who
committed to that for a season
and employed 22 caddies in 22
tournaments. I think he paid a
base of $600 per week, and so
he saved almost 20 grand. Pre-
tax, that is.
A club caddie needs to be re-
minded of only two things: On
tour, bunkers need to be raked
flawlessly, and the caddie of the
last player putting out replaces
the flagstick. If a guy can get
those two things right, I can do
the rest.
Another element not to be
discounted is the power of con-
tagious energy. There are cad-
die/player duos on the PGA Tour
who hate one another, but they
stick together because it seems
to work professionally. But
when a club caddie is issued the
bib with your name on it, you’ll
always see a smile from ear to
ear. They’re pumped, which gets
me pumped to play well.
You can bet Kuchar’s
Mexican caddie was a bundle
of spirit. Not only because he
was excited to be in the arena of
the PGA Tour, but because he
thought he was part of the team.
—with max adler