The American has come under fire for paying his stand-in caddie just $5,000 after his $1.3m Mayakoba Golf Classic win
Matt Kuchar Has Say On Caddie Pay Controversy
Matt Kuchar says that he is "disappointed" and "sad" after controversy surrounding his payment to stand-in caddie David Girol Ortiz following his Mayakoba Golf Classic win.
In what has been a slight PR disaster for Kuchar, the nine-time PGA Tour winner has come under fire on social media for what we now know was a $5,000 caddie payment from a $1.3m cheque.
A regular Tour caddie would receive around 10% if a player wins a tournament so Kuchar's regular bagman would have earned $130,000 had he made the trip.
Kuchar spoke to Golf.com's Michael Bamberger (opens in new tab) at Riviera ahead of the Genesis Open where he confirmed that the agreement was that he'd pay 'El Tucan' $1,000 if he missed the cut, $2,000 if he made the cut, $3,000 if he had a top-20 and $4,000 if he had a top-10.
“The extra $1,000 was, ‘Thank you — it was a great week,'" he said.
"Those were the terms. He was in agreement with those terms. That’s where I struggle. I don’t know what happened. Someone must have said, ‘You need much more.'’”
Golf.com's Michael Bamberger said that Kuchar seemed embarrassed about the extra $15,000 that was offered to 'El Tucan' after the event, which the Mexican, who wanted $50,000, didn't accept.
“No thank you. They can keep their money,” he said to Golf.com (opens in new tab) regarding the offer.
The offer, Kuchar confirmed, came from his agent Mark Steinberg but would have come out of his own pocket, not the agency's.
Kuchar then went on to defend the payment he made to El Tucan, saying “For a guy who makes $200 a day, a $5,000 week is a really big week."
He was then asked where he falls on the tipping scale, “I think if you ask locker room attendants, they’ll tell you that they’re happy to see me. I’m no Phil Mickelson, but these guys are like, ‘Matt’s coming our way.’"
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