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How Much Do Caddies Make at the Masters?
TL;DR
Caddies at the Masters typically earn 10% of a player's winnings if they win, with a weekly salary ranging from $2,000 to $4,000. For example, Rory McIlroy's caddie earned approximately $420,000 from his $4.2 million prize.
How Much Do Caddies Make at the Masters?David Cannon - Getty Images
When Rory McIlroy won the Masters last year, he took home $4.2 million million—an estimated $420,000 of which went to his caddie, Harry Diamond. Justin Rose, the runner up, won $2.268 million; his caddie, Mark “Fooch” Fulcher, received around $226,800.
While all caddies have a slightly different pay scale depending on their experience and history with a player, it’s usually estimated that a caddie makes 10% of a player’s winnings if they triumph, 7% for a top 10 finish, and 5% for making the cut, according to ESPN analyst and former caddie Michael Collins. “That number is negotiated between every player and caddy. There’s no such thing as a contract between player and caddy,” he said.
In addition, caddies do have a weekly salary on top of the cut of whatever tournament’s earnings. According to the Association of Professional Caddies and the Caddies Network, the weekly wage is anywhere between $2,000 and $4,000, because caddies have to pay for their own travel, lodging, and food. “But what hasn’t changed is, if your player doesn't make the cut, there is no other source of money other than the weekly fee,” Caddies Network CEO John von Stade told CBS.
Until 1983, golfers had to use Augusta’s caddie corps, all Black men “who turned a racist policy, rooted in subjugation, into a livelihood and a source of esteem,” per Garden & Gun. “We were the best caddies in the world,” caddie Jariah “Bubba” Beard, who caddied for Fuzzy Zoeller when he won the 1979 Masters, said in the 2019 documentary Loopers: The Caddie’s Long Walk. “We challenged each other [over] who could read the greens the best, who could pull the best clubs.” (In 1979, Zoeller “gave Beard more than 10 percent of his $50,000 winner’s paycheck,” according to Golf Digest.)
This year, the Masters purse again totals $21 million, and the winner will take home $4.2 million. Therefore, the caddie for the 2026 Masters winner could take home an estimated $420,000**.** As legendary Augusta caddie Jim Dent told Garden & Gun in 2024, now “caddies make more money in one win than a man might see in his lifetime.”
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Q&A
How much does a caddie earn for a Masters win?
A caddie earns approximately 10% of the player's winnings, which can amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars depending on the prize money.
What is the weekly salary range for caddies at the Masters?
Caddies at the Masters typically receive a weekly salary between $2,000 and $4,000, in addition to their earnings from the player's winnings.
What happens to caddies if their player doesn't make the cut?
If a player doesn't make the cut, caddies only receive their weekly fee, as there are no additional earnings from the tournament.
