How much do caddies make?

Question

Zippia Team · Accepted Answer

Caddies on the PGA tour make on average $1,500 to $3,000 per week. While all caddies' wages and agreements will vary based on their contracts, every caddy will get a weekly paycheck regardless of where their player finished.

If a player misses the cut, the caddie still has to get a paycheck because they pay all of their own expenses, including:

Airfare
Hotel
Car
Food

If the caddy's golfer makes the cut, the standard payment arrangement is 10-7-5. This means 10% for a win, 7% for a top 10, and 5% for everything else. Some caddies will opt for a higher weekly paycheck in exchange for a lower percentage of winnings.

For a caddy whose golfer wins a tournament with a $6.4 million total purse, their caddy should take home about $115,200. This is more than double the expected share of $48,384 if his golfer had a second-place finish. To that end, winning a tournament is important for both the golfer and the caddy.

Professional golfers may also decide to give their caddy a tip or bonus at the end of a tournament or season. As mentioned above, caddies are responsible for their own expenses, so these tips and bonuses are not always for profit. As an independent contractor, caddies must pay self-employment taxes and healthcare costs.

Being a professional caddy can be a lucrative business if done right. Steve Williams is one of the most famous caddies in the history of the PGA. Williams worked for Greg Norman, Tiger Woods, and Adam Scott. In 2007, Williams earned $1.4 million.

This placed him in the top 75 of PGA earnings that year without even playing a single tournament. During his 12 years with Tiger Woods, Williams earned an estimated $9 million, based on a 10% cut of the $88.8 million Woods won during that time.