Legendary former PGA Tour caddie Jim ‘Bones’ Mackay has pulled again the curtain on the monetary realities of the position.
Mackay was finest identified for being at Phil Mickelson’s aspect for all however considered one of his main championship wins in addition to 41 PGA Tour victories.
He was employed by Mickelson when he turned professional in 1992 and carried his bag till 2017, successful the Masters 3 times in addition to The Open and the PGA Championship.
Mackay later got here out of retirement for a three-year stint caddying for Justin Thomas on the PGA Tour, however now works as an on-course reporter for NBC Sports activities.
And he has make clear the not-so-glamorous realities of being a caddie on tour, revealing it prices round $40,000-50,000 a 12 months merely masking the value of journey, motels and different day-to-day prices.
The position additionally comes with none contract safety, working on a ‘week to week’ foundation.
Jim ‘Bones’ Mackay is likely one of the PGA Tour’s most legendary caddies after a long time on the bag
Mackay was by Phil Mickelson’s aspect for nearly his total profession together with 5 of his majors
‘Once I speak to folks about caddying, one of many issues that surprises them is the caddies pay for all their very own bills. So it prices [about] $40,000-50,000 a 12 months to do what caddies do,’ Mackay informed Front Office Sports.
‘There aren’t any contracts by way of the flexibility of a caddie to stick with a participant [long-term]. You are actually week to week with these guys.
‘Although you will have caddies that typically spend 5, 10, 15 years with a participant. And I believe that the general public is perhaps just a little stunned by how a lot enter, in some circumstances, caddies have with the gamers.
‘I imply, you realize, as nice a participant as Scottie Scheffler is, and he is additionally bought a world-class caddie in Ted Scott – he does little or no on the golf course with out type of working it by Ted. In order that they’re one heck of a staff, as many player-caddie duos are on the PGA.’
Given they don’t seem to be salaried workers, PGA Tour caddies often make a base pay price that may vary from $1,500 to $3,000, then get a share of participant earnings.
The share golfers tip on their earnings can differ, with a typical of 10 % if the participant wins, then round seven and eight % in the event that they end extremely.
Nonetheless, with golfers needing to cowl their very own in depth prices, that quantity falls to round 5 % in the event that they end poorly, and the caddie usually will get nothing apart from their base price if their participant misses the reduce and likewise goes house empty handed.
Mackay’s star participant Mickelson has earned an eyewatering quantity over the course of his profession, racking in $81,053,932 in official PGA Tour earnings – not together with the $24,770,928 he comprised of majors.
Mackay has make clear the fee caddies face that the majority golf followers don’t even notice
Mackay is now an on-course analyst for NBC Sports activities throughout their PGA Tour TV protection
Add in his profitable $12,130,826 LIV Golf earnings later in his profession after splitting from Mackay, and he has whole profession earnings of $117,955,685, per Spotrac.
With Mackay on his bag for a lot of that point, the caddie took house thousands and thousands himself over time.
However that profitable actuality isn’t the case for a lot of caddies on tour, notably for gamers grinding to make the reduce every week reasonably than frequently successful tournaments.
