The 2026 Masters featured a record $22.5 million prize purse, with Rory McIlroy taking home the biggest share. But the story of payouts at Augusta goes beyond just the winner. The man who carried McIlroy’s bag through four rounds at Augusta National also deserves a lucrative share.

Harry Diamond, both McIlroy’s caddie and childhood friend, is expected to earn about $450,000 from the $4.5 million winner’s check. That’s up from the $420,000 he received when McIlroy won in 2025. This $30,000 increase follows a steady rise in Masters prize money.

Caddie’s pay on Tour has followed the same structure for decades. The standard is 10% of the winner’s earnings, 7% for a top-10, and 5% for making the cut. There is no formal contract. In addition to the tournament percentage, Diamond receives a weekly base of $3,000 to $4,000, regardless of outcome. Caddies cover their expenses, including travel, accommodation, and meals. These costs can total $25,000 to $50,000 over a season.

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Diamond and McIlroy have a longstanding professional and personal relationship. They first met as children at Holywood Golf Club in Northern Ireland. Diamond has worked as McIlroy’s full-time caddie since 2017 and was also his best man in 2017. Following McIlroy’s 2025 Masters win, he acknowledged the significance of the victory for both of them.

“This one is just as much his as it is mine.”

Ahead of the 2026 Masters defense, McIlroy noted that Diamond focuses solely on winning majors, without seeking recognition. By the time of the 2025 Masters, Diamond had already earned between $870,000 and $900,000 in bonuses from McIlroy’s earlier wins that year. This amount was significantly higher than the average PGA Tour caddie earnings before the Masters.

By the end of 2025, Diamond’s total bonus earnings for the season were about $2 million. For comparison, Ted Scott, caddie for Scottie Scheffler, earned roughly $5.3 million during Scheffler’s 2024 season.

It’s important to look at how Augusta’s financial situation has changed over time.

Harry Diamond and Augusta’s Caddies: From assignment to $450,000

Until 1983, Masters players were assigned caddies by Augusta National. The club ran its own caddie corps from 1934, made up entirely of Black men from the nearby Sand Hills area. The pay was modest: $5 per round and $20 for a full day were considered a good haul.

Jariah “Bubba” Beard, who caddied for Fuzzy Zoeller in his 1979 Masters win, saw a single day’s earnings match what his parents made in a week at the mill. Zoeller paid Beard over 10% of his $50,000 winner’s check. The percentage for caddies stayed the same, but the actual payouts have changed dramatically.

In 1983, Augusta allowed outside Tour caddies for the first time. That year, just 22 of 82 players kept Augusta caddies. Within ten years, fewer than ten of the original group remained. Jim Dent, a veteran, said in 2024 that his largest caddie check was about $4,500. Today, a single tournament win can pay a caddie more than that entire era ever saw.

Harry Diamond earning $450,000 for one week at Augusta is not a minor detail. It shows just how much the role and reward of a caddie at the Masters has changed.