Pass/Fail: Matt Kuchar defends low pay to caddie after he won $1.2M in November tournament

Here is a sample of a typical work week. It’s the model I use to prepare for a tournament with my player.

  • Monday
    I typically walk the golf course by myself with a range finder and a level to chart the greens. I use my yardage book to make sure all the yardages are correct, and figure out where we want to land the ball, what the carry and “run out” yardages are for hazards, and where the roughs are. I then survey the greens for good places to be and where the harder shots might be. Then the time consuming part: I spend roughly 20 minutes per green using a level to determine the percentage of slope. This is the information I use to tell Mark that if we are just below that pin to the left it will be a straight uphill putt.
  • Tuesday
    Typically, we like to get out early (around 6:30 am) and play a practice round. A lot of the information I gather on Monday is used during this practice round to build a game plan for the week. Once we have a plan, we’ll usually finish the day with some practice on the driving range and putting green.
  • Wednesday
    Almost every professional golf tournament has a pro-am event on the Wednesday before competition begins. This is an 18-hole round where three tournament sponsors can play with a professional golfer. Wednesday is all about making sure the sponsors are enjoying their round so preparation needs to be completed on Monday and Tuesday.
  • Thursday to Sunday
    This is when all the hard work you put in during the week is tested. A typical day here is meeting a player around 1 hour before their tee time to warm up and then 18 holes of golf. During tournament rounds if we have a late afternoon, I’ll get to the golf course 4 to 5 hours before my player does. This allows me to “spectate.” What I’m looking for is if the course has changed – did it become firmer? Softer? I’ll look at the locations of pins and watch to see how the ball is reacting on the green.
https://careers.workopolis.com/advice/a-day-in-the-life-of-a-professional-caddie/
 
ronmch20 said:
Couldn't agree more. Most people don't know that most professional caddies are scratch or near scratch golfers themselves and know a whole lot about the technical aspects of the game in addition to reading greens and computing yardages. As others have said they do a whole lot more for the guy they're caddying for than just toting his bag. :hmm:
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golf post of the year

tenor.gif
 
ZuluSam said:
Here is a sample of a typical work week. It’s the model I use to prepare for a tournament with my player.

  • Monday
    I typically walk the golf course by myself with a range finder and a level to chart the greens. I use my yardage book to make sure all the yardages are correct, and figure out where we want to land the ball, what the carry and “run out” yardages are for hazards, and where the roughs are. I then survey the greens for good places to be and where the harder shots might be. Then the time consuming part: I spend roughly 20 minutes per green using a level to determine the percentage of slope. This is the information I use to tell Mark that if we are just below that pin to the left it will be a straight uphill putt.
  • Tuesday
    Typically, we like to get out early (around 6:30 am) and play a practice round. A lot of the information I gather on Monday is used during this practice round to build a game plan for the week. Once we have a plan, we’ll usually finish the day with some practice on the driving range and putting green.
  • Wednesday
    Almost every professional golf tournament has a pro-am event on the Wednesday before competition begins. This is an 18-hole round where three tournament sponsors can play with a professional golfer. Wednesday is all about making sure the sponsors are enjoying their round so preparation needs to be completed on Monday and Tuesday.
  • Thursday to Sunday
    This is when all the hard work you put in during the week is tested. A typical day here is meeting a player around 1 hour before their tee time to warm up and then 18 holes of golf. During tournament rounds if we have a late afternoon, I’ll get to the golf course 4 to 5 hours before my player does. This allows me to “spectate.” What I’m looking for is if the course has changed – did it become firmer? Softer? I’ll look at the locations of pins and watch to see how the ball is reacting on the green.
https://careers.workopolis.com/advice/a-day-in-the-life-of-a-professional-caddie/
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bgol member: that's great you still don't need higher education for this and a teenager still could do that...fuck this unskilled worker...how dare he make 5 gs in a week and not be happy about it...I went to college for yrs and never made 5g in a week..no way I'm gonna say this peon deserves more how can I feel good about myself if I have nobody to look down on
 
tallblacknyc said:
bgol member: that's great you still don't need higher education for this and a teenager still could do that...fuck this unskilled worker...how dare he make 5 gs in a week and not be happy about it...I went to college for yrs and never made 5g in a week..no way I'm gonna say this peon deserves more how can I feel good about myself if I have nobody to look down on
Click to expand...
:lol::lol::lol:

Then they best not talk to some plumbers, electricians and mechanics I know........
 
ZuluSam said:
:lol::lol::lol:

Then they best not talk to some plumbers, electricians and mechanics I know........
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s hit I know waiters, bartenders, security guards, housecleaners, event organizers( they literally set tables and chairs for events) , etc, that pay high 5 figs to 6 figs that some bgol cats would hate cause by their mindset it's unskilled work
 
GOLF
Golfer Matt Kuchar, Weary From Everyone Telling Him He's Awful, Apologizes For Stiffing His Caddie And Pays Up

Chris Thompson
Today 5:52pm
Filed to: MATT KUCHAR
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Photo: Harry How (Getty)
Pro golfer Matt Kuchar announced today that he’s seen the light on the decision to stiff his fill-in caddie at a tournament in Mexico in November, no doubt due to the hearty all-shit diet he’s consumed in the months since. Kuchar offered an apology and says he has now settled up with caddie David Ortiz:

Kuchar competed in the Mayakoba Golf Classic in the fall “on a whim,” and therefore required the services of a local caddie when his regular guy was unavailable. Caddies are customarily paid a 10-percent cut of a golfer’s winnings in a tournament, which in Ortiz’s case would’ve meant a life-changing $130,000 slice of Kuchar’s $1.3 million winner’s purse. Ortiz was instead paid a measly $5,000. Ortiz, upon learning later that his cut was a tiny fraction of what Kuchar would normally pay a caddie after a win of this size, wrote Kuchar a letter requesting $50,000. Kuchar declined, and waved away the controversy by pointing out that Ortiz doesn’t make much of a living, so really he should be happy with five grand:

“For a guy who makes $200 a day, a $5,000 week is a really big week,” he said.

“I try to look at the bright side of everything,” Kuchar said. “I hope he’s happy, I hope things are really good in his life. I have to think, if he was given the same opportunity to do it again, he’d say, `Yeah.’ He has a nice personality. He’s easy to be with. The photo of the two of us with the trophy, that will always be on the wall in my office.”

Kuchar took a beating over both the payment and this slimy explanation, from current and former golfers as well as golf fans and commentators. All it took was everyone getting mad at him to have a change of heart.
 
Matt Kuchar to apologize to caddie, pay him full $50,000
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7:07 PM ET
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    Bob HarigESPN Senior Writer

LOS ANGELES -- Matt Kuchar heard a few catcalls from spectators at the Genesis Open on Friday. He's seen the negativity on social media and in the golf world at large. And he decided to make amends.

After his first round Friday at Riviera Country Club, Kuchar issued a statement in which he apologized and said he would be making full payment of the amount a fill-in caddie requested after the veteran golfer paid him just $5,000 following his November victory at the Mayakoba Classic.


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David Giral Ortiz, who filled in as Kuchar's caddie during the tournament in Mexico, had requested a total of $50,000; Kuchar earned $1,296,000 for the victory and caddies are typically paid a percentage.

"I let myself, my family, my partners and those close to me down, but I also let David down," Kuchar said. "I plan to call David tonight when I'm off the course to apologize for the situation he has been put in, and I have made sure he has received the full total that he has requested.''


Kuchar: 'I was fair' paying caddie $5K for win
Matt Kuchar defended paying caddie David Giral Ortiz $5,000 from his $1.296 million winner's check in November, telling GolfChannel.com, "Making $5,000 is a great week."

Kuchar then compounded things by telling Golf.com on Wednesday that Ortiz had agreed to his terms.

"The extra $1,000 was, "Thank you -- it was a great week,'' Kuchar said. "Those were the terms. He was in agreement with those terms. That's where I struggle. I don't know what happened. Someone must have said, "You need much more.'''

At the crux of all this is what is considered proper payment for a week of working carrying a golf bag. Ortiz would not have worked that week at the club in Mexico due to the tournament had Kuchar not been in need of a caddie. He was paid far more than he would have made in any other week. And Kuchar could not understand why anyone would turn down $15,000.

The other side is that a regular caddie typically receives a percentage of a player's prize money, with a 10 percent bonus paid for a victory.

At minimum, Kuchar's full-time caddie, Wood, would have been expected to receive a six-figure payout. Few believe Ortiz deserved that much. But much of the outrage has centered on a player who just won more than $1.2 million (and who has earned in excess of $47 million in official prize money in his career) not seeing clear to paying even more than the extra $15,000 that was offered.

Kuchar was catching plenty of abuse on social media. And, perhaps most of all, no prominent PGA Tour players were coming to his defense. Those who have spoken anonymously basically shared the same sentiment: Kuchar had done himself no favors, and that the caddie deserved more than what was paid.

In recent days, Steinberg worked behind the scenes to try and come to a resolution. He spoke with several of Kuchar's sponsors who "as this escalated to the height that it did. Part of the equation you have to think about here is Matt is one of the highest character guys and those partners know that.''

Steinberg also contacted Ortiz to assure him that Kuchar would be contacting him and that another payment was forthcoming.

"I never wanted to bring any negativity to the Mayakoba Golf Classic,'' Kuchar said in his statement. "I feel it is my duty to represent the tournament well, so I am making a donation back to the event, to be distributed to the many philanthropic causes working to positively impact the communities of Playa del Carmen and Cancún.

"For my fans, as well as fans of the game, I want to apologize to you for not representing the values instilled in this incredible sport. Golf is a game where we call penalties on ourselves. I should have done that long ago and not let this situation escalate.''

Kuchar is set to return to Mexico next week for the WGC-Mexico Championship.
 
Caddies are VERY important
They KNOW the courses inside and out. They know the lines, They know the distance, they know which club you need.
That's what they are paid to know.....
Caddies should (most good ones are) be paid 10% of a Golfer's winnings
 
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