Caddies are joining forces against Matt Kuchar.
After local caddie David Giral Ortiz revealed that he was paid only $5,000 for working with Kuchar during his November win at the Mayakoba Classic in Mexico — which rewarded the golfer a $1.296 million prize — a former PGA Tour caddie details the Kuchar few know.
“Kuchar is the biggest phony out there,” Michael Collins, an ESPN golf analyst who previously caddied for multiple players, said on his “Matty and the Caddie” podcast.
“That whole smiling thing, it’s an act.”
Kuchar has come out in defense of himself this week, saying that he hasn’t lost any sleep over it and lamenting the fact that it has become a story at all. His regular caddie was unavailable for the tournament, so Ortiz replaced him.
According to Kuchar, they had an arrangement that Ortiz would have been paid $1,000 if he missed the cut, $2,000 if he made the cut, $3,000 if he finished top-20 and $4,000 if he finished top-10.
Caddies on the PGA Tour typically get 5 percent of the player’s earnings and as much as 10 percent for a winning tournament. Ortiz told GOLF.com he should have been paid $50,000, and while he said he was later offered an additional $15,000 by Kuchar’s agent, he was still insulted and turned it down.