A second Hero World Challenge for Hideki Matsuyama. After an unexpected weekend in the Bahamas, the Japanese successfully added another victory (second of the year) to his bag. It’s hard to believe the outcome, as Matsuyama was placed among the last spots at the start of the tournament. But as they say, golf is unexpected. And Matsuyama successfully took advantage of that, filling not just his coffers but also those of his caddie.

Hideki Matsuyama’s caddie made a jackpot

The Tiger Woods event came with a massive $5 million prize purse, with the winner taking home $1 million. Not all of this will go into the pocket of Matsuyama. As per golf’s tradition, he will have to pay his caddie, Shota Hayafuji, a share, which is based on the performance of the golfer in the tournament.

On the PGA Tour, the caddie of the winning golfer earns a 10% share of the prize money. It reduces to 7% if the finish is in the top 10, and 5% for just making the cut. Although it should be noted that the Hero World Challenge was a no-cut event. Hence, each of the 20 players on the field – and their caddies – took home some amount.

So if one applies those standards, Hayafuji will earn 10% of the share. That amounts to $100k.

That wouldn’t be all, though. Every caddie has a base salary. This amount comes anywhere between $1,500 and $6,000, depending on the prep days. Adding all that, Hayafuji likely earned somewhere around $101k to $106k. This income can actually anchor someone for an entire season, all thanks to Matsuyama.

But his 2025 season does have other credits, too. Although his 2025 net worth is not publicly disclosed, one could make a guess by Matsuyama’s performance. Apart from a win at the Sentry, Matsuyama bagged a T16 in the Sony Open, which gave him $132k. Then came a whopping $384k from the Genesis Invitational’s T13. Overall, he played 23 events and missed only 3 cuts.

Now, factoring in the traditional 10-7-5 rule of pay and an annual base salary of reportedly $75,000 to $150k, Hayafuji could have earned somewhere around $1 – $2.5 M, boosting his net worth significantly.

One should also note that he did not caddied for Matsuyama in every event.

Earlier this year, in June, Hayafuji had dealt with certain visa renewal issues. This had prompted him to return to Japan temporarily for the summer. For this very reason, it was Matsuyama’s wife, Mei Inui, who caddied for him at this year’s Rocket Classic.

Hideki Matsuyama’s and Shota Hayafuji’s deep connection

While the money is important, it’s the golfer-caddie relationship that stands out. Hideki Matsuyama and Shota Hayafuji have known each other since their junior high school days in Japan. Back then, Hayafuji himself chased the dream of professional golf. When he competed in the China Tour, his profile famously bore, “My favorite golfer is Hideki Matsuyama.”

It was 2018 when Hayafuji started caddying for Matsuyama. His playing career had been unsuccessful, and caddying for his favorite seemed like the best option. Since then, both have built one of pro golf’s most successful partnerships, with Hayafuji carrying Matsuyama’s bag for the five PGA Tour wins and the 2021 Masters victory.

If you ask Hayafuji about their dynamic, he’ll call it “senior and junior.” This comes from the Japanese culture of respecting the elders and the more experienced. Shota Hayafuji reportedly refers to Matsuyama as “Matsuyama Pro.” Their deep bond with the sport could be traced back to the time when the golfer won the Masters.

After his victory, he bowed to the course spontaneously. When asked later, he said he did it because he was “thankful.” The image became one of the sport’s most beloved.