A PR disaster for ever-smiling Kuchar - Brasier Golf
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24 Feb A PR disaster for ever-smiling Kuchar

Posted at 08:00h in Golf Tip by

Just what is a good caddie worth to you?

This is a question that poor Mr Matt Kuchar had to make after breaking a four-year victory drought in November by winning in Mexico, while using local caddie David ‘El Tucan’ Ortiz to carry his clubs, rather than his normal bag man John Wood.

Ortiz spoke recently to Golf.com and explained that after Kuchar took home a winner’s cheque of US$1.296 million, he received only $5,000 for his services for the week.

Apparently, Ortiz traded emails with Kuchar’s agent, Mark Steinberg, in the hopes of receiving $50,000 he wanted. Normal handshake agreements between players and caddies entitle the caddie to a percentage of the player’s weekly earnings that can often reach 10 percent.

Kuchar said in a statement last week that players call penalties on themselves in golf and that he should have done that long ago — and not let his caddie payment situation escalate.

After smiling his way through a controversy-free career that has now spanned two decades (while accumulating over $46 million in career earnings), he put himself in an unnecessary corner.

In the age of social media, there are few combinations more potent than discussing celebrities and how they spend their money. Regardless of the agreement Kuchar and Ortiz reached before the start of the Mexico event, it is widely regarded that he should have paid his caddie more. Basically, his PR strategy made a bad situation worse.

However, he’s now agreed to pay Ortiz his requested amount of $50,000 as well as an additional, undisclosed donation to the Mayakoba tournament to be distributed to various charities in the Cancun area.

Out of Bounds: A caddie’s life and remuneration has changed dramatically since my payment of £25 for a week of the British Open caddying back in 1971. Then it was very much the case of keep up and shut up. Now caddies and players form friendships that seem to last until a couple of bad rounds or missed cuts. Anyway, I’ve written to Kuchar asking if I could caddy for him next week for just $5 for the week — nothing back as yet!

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