You may recall the great drama from the early 2018/2019 PGA Tour season featuring Matt Kuchar replacement caddie, El Tucan (aka David Giral Ortiz) and his compensation following Kuch’s last-minute Mayakoba win. If you don’t, I’ll fill you in real quick. In short, the story goes that Matt Kuchar decided to play the Mayakoba at the very last minute and his regular caddie already had prior obligations preventing him from making the trip. So Kuch called on a local caddie from the resort that was renowned for his ability to navigate golfers around the course. Well, naturally Kuchar would go on and win the tournament – obviously.
Now here’s where things really pick up. The caddie story was a big buzz, but shortly after, word started coming out that Kuch only paid his temp caddie $3000 after a ~$1.3 million (!) payday. Many quickly came out and said, “no, El Tucan was not compensated the usual 10% for a win, but he was more than fairly compensated” (paraphrased, don’t quote me). For some reason though, that bug never seemed to leave the public’s ear. Finally, El Tucan spoke to Golf Digest and let the world in on all the answers. Golf Digest kills it with the headline too:
‘They can keep their money’
Yes! I’m in! I need to know more now.
The caddie said he was offered an additional $15,000, for a total of $20,000, but that he found that unacceptable. He also said he would not want to work for Kuchar at next year’s tournament.
For both player and caddie, the show-me-the-money aftermath of a magical week has been filled with frustration and disappointment. Ortiz feels he was underpaid. Kuchar feels he has made a fair offer to a club caddie who was with him for only one week. That the pay dispute has played out over social media without either party saying much of anything is a sign of the times.
In a Jan. 24 email Ortiz sent to Mark Steinberg, Kuchar’s agent, the caddie wrote, “I am a humble man, who takes care of his family, and works hard. I am reaching out to you to see if you can facilitate me receiving a fair amount for my help with Matt winning $1,296,000. I am not looking to disparage Matt or give him a bad name. Fair is fair, and I feel like I was taken advantage of by placing my trust in Matt.”
…
Asked how he felt about the offer to receive what he said would be an additional and final $15,000 payment, Ortiz said, “No thank you. They can keep their money.”
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Ortiz said he did not expect to be paid what a Tour caddie would have made, but said he believed his work and contribution toward the win was worth $50,000.
So yeah, this certainly doesn’t sound as peaceful and easy as everyone thought. Clearly it’s a case of “where there’s smoke, there’s fire” based on the murmurs of the $3000. This is tough. Is $20k a lot of money for this guy? Absolutely. It also sounds in line with the handshake agreement made at the start of the tournament:
A Tour caddie typically receives five percent of a player’s winnings, a higher percentage for a top-10 finish and 10 percent for a win. These arrangements are usually handshake deals.
Ortiz said that Kuchar said at the start of the tournament that he would be paid $3,000 for the week, plus an unspecified percentage of his winnings.
On that basis, in the euphoria of victory, Ortiz had hoped to make as much as $130,000. When Kuchar left Mexico, the caddie said, he was under the impression that he would still receive a bonus.
Apparently the bonus was an extra $2k totaling $5000 in an envelope and a handshake (allegedly) before Kuch was on his way.
Credit to the team for even offering a second payment at all, but jesus…come on. Change the dude’s life forever! Or at least give him a comfortable five figures before parting ways. (Dude’s earned $46 million in career winnings!!!)
Oh well, what do I know? I’m just a lowly golf blogger and I’m here for the drama. The Golf Digest piece is fun if you’re into that kind of thing too. Check it out here.
