What is the average caddie pay including tips?

For a single loop at a private or resort course, a caddie typically earns the bag fee plus tip, landing somewhere around $100 to $200 total per round. The base fee is often $50 to $120 per bag, and the tip on top usually runs $20 to $60. Numbers climb at high-end resorts and elite clubs.

How much do PGA players tip their caddies?

Tour caddies are not tipped the way a club caddie is. They earn a weekly base wage plus a percentage of the player's prize money, commonly cited as around 10% for a win, 7% for a top-10, and 5% otherwise. That structure, not a one-off tip, is how professional caddies get paid.

What is Rory McIlroy's caddie's salary?

Exact figures are private, but McIlroy's caddie Harry Diamond is paid on the standard tour model: a base wage plus roughly 5% to 10% of McIlroy's earnings depending on finish. Given McIlroy's prize money and bonuses, that percentage adds up to a high six-figure or seven-figure year in his best seasons.

What does Scottie Scheffler pay his caddie?

Scheffler and caddie Ted Scott have never disclosed terms, but they follow the same percentage convention. With Scheffler winning tens of millions in a dominant stretch, a standard 5% to 10% cut puts Scott's on-course earnings well into the millions across a big season, before any endorsement extras.

How Much to Tip a Caddie: A Practical Guide

How much to tip a caddie depends on where you are playing, but the working answer for most amateurs is $20 to $60 on top of the bag fee for a single round. At a resort or high-end private club, aim for the upper end or beyond; for a shared forecaddie, plan on $20 to $40 per player in the group. Cash, handed over at the end, is the norm.

Two things confuse people. First, the tip sits on top of the caddie fee, which the course charges separately. Second, tour caddies are paid on a completely different system, which is where the “5 to 10 percent” figure you have heard actually comes from. Let us separate the two.

How much to tip a caddie by round type

Tipping is contextual. A caddie who single-bags for you at a walking-only club has done far more work than a forecaddie spotting for four players in carts. Here is a practical range for each common setup.

Round type	Typical caddie/bag fee	Suggested tip on top	Notes
Public course caddie	$40–$80 per bag	$20–$40	Less common; tip well, good caddies are rare here
Private club, single bag	$60–$100 per bag	$30–$60	The standard members’ loop; more if they read greens well
Private club, double bag	$100–$140 total	$40–$80 total	One caddie carries two bags; tip reflects the extra load
Resort / destination course	$80–$120 per bag	$40–$80+	Premium service; the upper end is expected at marquee resorts
Forecaddie (per player)	Split among the group	$20–$40 each	They spot balls and rake but do not carry; tip individually
Exceptional loop	—	Add $20–$40	Great reads, lost-ball saves, genuinely improved your day

These are guides, not rules. If a caddie found three balls you had written off, kept your group moving, and read the putt that saved your round, pay for it. If service was indifferent, the lower end is fair.

Why cash and why at the end

Hand the tip over in cash at the 18th green, directly to the caddie. Course fees often go through the pro shop and may not reach the caddie in full, so the cash tip is the part they rely on. Bring small bills before you tee off; nobody wants to break a fifty in the parking lot. A short thank-you and eye contact costs nothing and is remembered.

If you are new to walking with a caddie, our guide on what to wear golfing covers the dress codes and on-course courtesies that go hand in hand with tipping well.

How much do PGA Tour caddies make?

This is a different world. A professional tour caddie is a full-time employee of the player, not a tip-based looper. The pay has two parts: a weekly base wage, widely reported to sit in the low thousands per tournament to cover travel and expenses, and a percentage of the player’s prize money on top.

The percentage convention that circulates in golf media, and that Golf Digest and Sportico have both referenced in their caddie-earnings reporting, is roughly:

10% of the purse for a win
7% for a top-10 finish
5% for everything else

None of this is fixed by any governing body; it is an industry handshake and individual deals vary. But it explains the eye-watering numbers around top caddies. When a player banks tens of millions, even a 5 to 10 percent slice is a fortune. That is why Ted Scott, alongside Scottie Scheffler’s dominant run, and Harry Diamond, working for Rory McIlroy, are among the best-paid support staff in the sport without anyone ever “tipping” them in the club sense.

Tour caddie pay is not a tip

The distinction matters if you ever caddie chatter gets confused. When you tip your resort caddie $50, you are thanking them for a day’s service. When Scheffler pays Scott his cut, he is paying a salaried professional a contractual share of winnings. The word “caddie” covers both, but the money works nothing alike. For the amateur game, the figures in the table above are all you need. For the full picture of what loopers earn at every level, our how much do caddies make breakdown goes deeper.

A quick note on group formats

In a four-player game with one forecaddie, agree the total before you finish so nobody is scrambling. It is easy to under-tip a shared caddie because each player assumes the others covered more. Decide as a group. If you are playing a team format like four-ball vs foursomes, a single forecaddie may be spotting for all four of you, which is real work and deserves the full per-player range.

Keep a few twenties in your bag, tip on the number the caddie earned rather than a rigid formula, and you will never get it wrong. Generosity to a good caddie is the cheapest way to be remembered warmly at a course you want to return to.