How Much Do PGA Caddies Make? The Base-Plus-Percentage Deal
“How much does a PGA caddie make?” has a two-part answer — a modest weekly wage and a percentage that can dwarf it — and the split explains everything about the strangest employment arrangement in professional sports.
The widely-reported standard deal
| Component | The convention | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Weekly base | ~$1,500–$3,000 Estimated | Paid win or miss — covers a week of course-walking, yardage books and travel that the caddie funds himself |
| Made cut | ~5% of the player’s winnings Estimated | The baseline percentage |
| Top-10 finish | ~7% Estimated | The escalator |
| Win | ~10% Estimated | The payday: 10% of a $3.6M winner’s check is $360,000 — for one week |
These percentages are the industry’s widely-reported convention, not a published rulebook — every player-caddie deal is private, and stars’ arrangements can include salaries, bonuses and equity-like twists nobody discloses.
The economics underneath
The structure is base-plus-percentage — the same architecture as a musician’s guarantee-plus-door-split, and for the same reason: it shares risk between a fixed-cost worker and a variable-income principal. The brutal part is the caddie’s cost base: flights, hotels and meals come out of the caddie’s pocket, so a string of missed cuts can mean losing money to work. That makes the profession a barbell: loopers for journeyman pros grind near break-even, while the caddie of a top-5 player — earning percentages on $8–12M seasons — out-earns most of the players his boss beats. Elite caddies today add income layers their predecessors never had: sponsor patches on the bib, podcasts and media work — the caddie-as-brand era. The whole profession is the inverse of coaching’s public-records world: no contracts filed anywhere, conventions instead of documents — which is why every number above wears an “estimated” badge, and honestly should.
FAQ
How much does a PGA caddie make? The widely-reported convention: a $1,500–$3,000 weekly base plus a percentage of winnings — roughly 5% for a made cut, 7% for a top-10, 10% for a win. A win week can mean six figures.
Do caddies pay their own expenses? Yes — travel, lodging and meals typically come out of the caddie’s pocket, which is why missed-cut weeks can be net losses.
How much does the caddie of a top player earn? Percentages on an $8–12M season plus base can put an elite caddie into high-six or seven figures — more than many tour players earn.
Are caddie contracts public? No — every arrangement is private, and the familiar 5/7/10 percentages are industry convention rather than documented rules.
