Golfer Pays Substitute Caddy Less Than .004% of $1.3M Winnings

[rocktivity]

Last edited Fri Feb 15, 2019, 12:16 PM - Edit history (8)

SBNation.com: Last November, Matt Kuchar won the Mayakoba Classic in Mexico. While Kuchar has always slotted high in the world rankings and posted consistent high finishes, it was his first win in four and a half years on the PGA Tour...The winner’s payout...was $1,296,000...

Kuchar made the tournament a late add to his schedule and (his) regular caddie...had already RSVP’d to another obligation...Kuchar enlisted local caddie David ("El Tucan") Ortiz, (who) caddies at the resort full-time and said he makes around $200 per day...There are no set rates for caddies on the PGA Tour...Some pay out 8 percent of any prize money and 10 percent if the player wins the whole thing. Some go with...5 percent of cash earned from a made cut, 7 percent for a top 10, and 10 percent of a win...(This) January...a rumor...(was) tweeted a that some winning player...gave his caddie just $3,000 after the victory...(It was subsequently) tweeted...that...El Tucan (said) the payout was $5,000...

Kuchar said the deal before the week was $1,000 for a missed cut, $2,000 for a made cut, $3,000 for a top-20, and $4,000 for a top 10...El Tucan (said) that he has since been offered an additional $15,000 but he turned it down as unacceptable” ...Kuchar (had) no regret for the sum he paid...(H)e does not lose sleep over this and...you can’t “buy people’s ability to be OK with you...Making $5,000 is a great week.”

Tucan should have gotten $50K at the rock-bottom VERY least -- or is that much too much to pay a Mexican?


rocktivity

[Ferrets are Cool]

1. And this is a man who is a MULTI-MILLIONAIRE....but who is "not losing any sleep"

for NOT doing the right thing. $100K should be the MINIMUM amount. You are shameful "Kuch".

[dchill]

3. That's the thing. They don't. They don't lose any sleep.

They got theirs. The end.

[ProfessorGAC]

5. Just A Piece Of Info

The biggest names have caddies on SUBSTANTIAL retainer so those guys don't get any % of winnings, except a bonus for a tournament win.
The next tier down (and Kuchar's in that slot) pay guys around 3%. Then 2% more for a top 10 finish, then 3% more on top of that for a win. Plus, they cover all travel and health care.
So, this tool's likely excuse is that he has to pay his regular caddie anyway, (8%, or>$100k), so he stiffed the guy from last week.
Pretty awful.

[ProfessorGAC]

2. His Excuse This Week Is Even Worse

Kuchar looks like a petulant, entitled punk. And he's bragging he added a grand to the original agreement. Wow, what a great guy!

And he didn't pay him 3%. That would be be $39k.

He paid him <0.4%!

Tightwad!

[Ferrets are Cool]

4. Thank you for the correction...I was too lazy to do the actual computation.

[brush]

6. The cheapskate actually paid the caddy much, much less.

He won 1.3M and paid the caddy 5k. That's more like .03% as $130k would be 10%, the normal caddy fee.

To me it smacks of racism as well. The bastard cheated the Mexican caddy, who helped him win, out of his rightful fee.

[rocktivity]

7. Fixed typo, thanks

Invest in proper wages, and you WOULDN'T need a wall to keep them out!


rocktivity

[Jarqui]

8. I think Kuchar deserves criticism

I don't think this caddie should have got 10% that some have floated. The PGA standard for a local caddie is 5% ($65,000). PGA caddies know their player, pay their own travel expenses and are away from their families on a pro's schedule and are basically attached to the hip of the pro for many days of the year, etc.

Kuchar has to face his own regular caddie after the tournament. If he pays a club caddie he doesn't know who basically just carried his bag the same (Ortiz didn't read greens or club him) as what he pays his regular caddie, what does that say about how he values what his regular caddie does for him? It's a real potential problem.

I think Kuchar paying the caddie something significantly less than the 10% for a win that he pays his regular caddie who travels with him and provides so much more is not unreasonable at all. It's justified. Ortiz obviously agrees because he didn't ask for 10% - he wanted $50,000 (3.84%). Tom Gillis, the PGA Tour pro advocating for Ortiz thought $50,000 was reasonable.

Commonly, using a local caddie, they get 5% on the PGA tour which would have been $65,000. But what they typically provide is much more than what Ortiz did: course management/shot selection, wind, elevation, yardage to the front of the green and to the stick, putt break, grain, local course knowledge, etc. Ortiz did not provide that to Kuchar. He carried his bag, cleaned his clubs and ball, held/removed/put back the flagstick, raked the sand traps, etc - he was a pair of hands - that's all. So his compensation should fall below the typical 5% for a local club caddie because he did not provide what they typically provide by a substantial margin.

They had an agreement that for a top 10 finish, he would get $4,000 (1.4% of $281,000 average for top 10 finishes between 2nd and 10th). They never discussed if he would get more for a win. Kuchar gave him an extra $1,000 for the win. Under contract law, Kuchar would probably handily win a court case.

They offered another $15,000 for a total of $20,000 - which I think most people would feel is still pretty cheap relative to the $65,000 or Kuchar's winnings. Yet, I can see why $50,000 might be regarded as a little rich for just carrying his bag - he did not provide a lot of caddie services. I would guess $35,000 to $40,000 might be more justifiable/acceptable - all things considered.

But there's no question in my mind, Kuchar was pretty damn cheap - took advantage - and Kuchar deserves the criticism.

[rocktivity]

10. Ortiz is described as a "full-time" caddy AT the course.

Why wouldn't he be able to help with wind conditions, club selection, or reading the greens? And is there a difference between "full-time" and "local" caddies?


rocktivity

[hughee99]

11. He could probably be just as helpful as the regular caddy with greens and wind,

But perhaps not as good with club selection, as that tends to vary from golfer to golfer. A full-time caddy would be someone who works and travels with the same pro and knows their specific skills a lot better. A local caddy works a course or two, with different players all the time.

[Jarqui]

14. Language

He didn't speak English. Golf.com had a translator discuss it with him as did a PGA pro, Gillis, who tried to help him. He didn't club him and he didn't read greens for him. He couldn't speak English to tell him things.

There is a difference between full time and local caddies. Full time caddies are dedicated to the PGA player. They know his game - what he's good at and what he isn't. They know his temperament and how to handle him - keep him calm, make him think/course management tendencies, pass on good thoughts from previous great shots to help his confidence, etc. Because of that, they can club him better. It is their job to know the course - so they go out and study it, collect notes on yardages, green breaks, pin placement on the day, etc. The full time caddie will know his swing and fault tendencies "what did I do there? !!" "You slid your hips again" or "you dropped your head a bit" or "you laid the club off at the top" - instant feedback many local caddies wouldn't know to watch for as a tendency that he'd been working on/struggling with or would be afraid to say.

The local caddie would have a pretty good handle on the yardages and green breaks but many are not at the caliber of a PGA caddie who see the best courses around the world, learning from the best caddies, so it would depend on who was on the bag whether the local caddie would provide an edge there. Some would. A bunch wouldn't.

I was a good local caddie and witnessed PGA players and their caddies playing that course several times. I might have provided a couple of better reads on the greens from knowing the breaks but those guys could read greens better than me and they took the course apart in terms of yardage and strategy, etc. Those players were better off with their caddies than me. No question.

Kuchar caved in to the media pressure and embarrassment and paid him - which is good
http://www.espn.com/golf/story/_/id/26005383/matt-kuchar-apologize-caddie-pay-full-50000

[Kingofalldems]

9. His Wiki page said he was a republican yesterday.

It has been changed.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Kuchar#Personal_life

[rocktivity]

12. UPDATE: Substitute Caddy Is Now At Least $50K Richer

Last edited Sun Feb 24, 2019, 03:33 PM - Edit history (1)

New York Times: Kuchar, who has earned more than $45 million as a professional golfer, was cast as an ugly American after it was disclosed how much he paid the local caddie he employed at the Mayacoba Classic in Playa del Carment. After winning the tournament, with David Giral Ortiz on his bag, Kuchar paid him a tiny fraction of what the job usually yields when the boss wins $1.296 million....

(I)ndignation began building against Kuchar, who has long been considered one of the more affable players on tour. At the recent Phoenix Open, fans at the raucous 16th hole chanted “Pay your caddie” when it was Kuchar’s turn to hit...(A fan) said Kuchar was his favorite player...(b)ut not anymore. “How do you tip a caddie $1,000 when you’ve made $1.3 million...To me, I think that’s called discrimination...I can’t even look at the guy.”

...Perhaps mindful that his next tournament is scheduled for next week in Mexico City, and no doubt feeling battered by all the criticism he has received, Kuchar on Friday had a change of heart. After finishing his first round of the tournament...he issued a statement saying that that Ortiz had now “received the full total that he has requested,’’ which implies that he has now given him an additional $45,000...

Threads like this make me fall in love with DU all over again -- you never know when your "expertise" is needed!


rocktivity

[ProfessorGAC]

13. Heard That, Too

NOW, that guy had a good week!
My guess is that even other pros at Riviera were telling him "WTF are you doing?"