How Much Does The Winning Caddie Earn At The AIG Women’s Open?

To say plenty is riding on the outcome of the AIG Women’s Open would be an understatement, with not only the distinction of a Major title alongside the winner’s name, but a host of other perks that come with taking the title.

They include an AIG Women’s Open exemption until the age of 60 and places in the other four Majors for the next five years.

There is potentially life-changing money on the line, too, with this year’s winner earning a record $1.5m, before various factors reduce how much they really get to keep. One of those is the money the winner pays to her caddie from the $1.5m.

At the 54-hole stage, Yealimi Noh led the way, leaving her caddie Tyler Eckenberg in pole position for that payment.

It is widely accepted that tournament winners generally give their caddies 10% of their prize money. That means the winning caddie at Royal Lytham & St Annes is expected to receive $150,000 of the prize money.

That’s an increase on a year ago, when Miya Yamashita won $1,462,500, giving her caddie John Bennett around $146,250. In 2024, Lydia Ko won $1,350,000, of which around $135,000 would have been paid to her caddie Paul Cormack.

That $150,000 is not likely to be the full amount either, with players negotiating separate terms with their caddie.

For example, most caddies are either paid an annual salary or given a weekly base rate, although that information is generally kept between them.

The caddies of players finishing further down the leaderboard are also expected to be well compensated for their work.

Caddies of players finishing in the other positions in top 10 of the AIG Women’s Open leaderboard are expected to receive around 7% of the prize money, with around 5% going to the caddies of other players in the field.