The Average Salary of a PGA Caddie
Calculating an average salary for a professional caddie is not easy because the pay varies widely, based on whose bag you're carrying, how well your player performs and on what tour you're working. On the highest end, the PGA Tour in the United States, caddies and players have a generally accepted and unwritten rate on which to base discussion, but the final number is a matter of negotiation.
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The Going Rate
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An average rate for PGA Tour caddies when carrying for an average player is $1,000 per week, plus a percentage of earnings from the week's purse that ranges between 5 percent and 10 percent. Dennis Cone, president of the Professional Caddies Association, told Forbes Magazine in 2007 that the normal rate is often 5 percent of earnings for a finish outside the top 10.
Risk versus Reward
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Caddies may negotiate a lower base rate and a higher percentage of winnings if they join up with a rookie with great potential. Golf Digest reported in November 2006 that those arrangements can mean $500 for guaranteed pay weekly but 10 percent of earnings every week, no matter what the finish.
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Finishing Strong Pays Better
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A top-10 finish means a much bigger payday for a PGA Tour caddie. Cone and Golf Digest both said a top-10 finish boosts the percentage of winnings to seven percent for the average caddie, and a victory often means a 10 percent payoff. In 2011 on the PGA Tour, most tournaments pay at least $1 million to the winner, which translates to a $100,000 week for the caddie.
Expenses are High
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Pay may be higher in the PGA Tour's modern era, but the expenses are higher as well. In the era of Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson and Sam Snead during the 1940s and '50s, tournaments were within driving distance week to week. Today, golf is a global game and a player could play in China one week and California the next. The travel expenses can easily eat up 25 percent of a caddie's earnings.
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