PGA Tour caddies can earn a lot of money. Scottie Scheffler’s caddie, Ted Scott, for instance, has made approximately $2,623,000 this year. That is far more than many professionals earned in 2026 on the PGA Tour. A caddie receives a weekly salary and a small percentage of what the professional made at a tournament. This could vary: 5% for a cut made, 7% for a top-10 finish, and 10% for a win.

While these figures aren’t industry norms, they reflect the standard pay expected. On the surface, this sounds very lucrative. But Phil Mickelson’s ex-caddie, Jim ‘Bones’ Mackay, revealed that the job carries considerable financial risks.

“When I talk to people about caddying, one of the things that surprises them is the caddies pay for all their own expenses. So it costs [about] $40,000-50,000 a year to do what caddies do,” Mackay told Front Office Sports. “There are no contracts in terms of the ability of a caddie to stay with a player [long-term]. You’re literally week to week with those guys. Though you’ll have caddies that sometimes spend 5, 10, 15 years with a player.”

Many examples show professionals and caddies splitting after only a few events together. Consider Collin Morikawa’s example. The American professional had worked with J.J. Jakovac since 2019. However, they parted ways in April 2025. After that, Morikawa joined hands with Joe Greiner, but the partnership lasted only for five tournaments. The golfer then relied on former college teammate K.K. Limbhasut as a fill-in.

This goes both ways because a caddie can also leave the partnership when things aren’t working out. Alejandro Tosti’s caddie, Cliff Ellis, left the job mid-round at the 2026 Biltmore Championship. It reportedly stemmed from arguments over finances, bad behavior, and an umbrella.

The point is that there’s no job security here. And amid that insecurity, caddies have to cover a lot of their own expenses, too. Mackay didn’t reveal complete details on what expenses they need to cover themselves; there are a few things that come to mind.

These include flights to tournaments, airport transfers, local transportation, meals, daily expenses, laundry, etc. Like the pay structure, these costs can vary across golfer-caddie partnerships.

But expenses of $40,000 to $50,000 a year can be very challenging because many caddies don’t make much more than that. We have all heard many professionals, including the likes of Ben Griffin, talk about the cost of being a PGA Tour pro.

“I was honestly $20,000 in debt by the time I returned to the Korn Ferry Tour,” Griffin told Golf Monthly.

He had almost given up on golf because of the expenses. While his income has improved significantly this year, many PGA Tour professionals make less than a couple million dollars a year. Caddies working with these stars may be earning even less. But as Mackay noted, not many people are aware of this.

Mackay and Lefty started working together in 1992 after they met at a U.S. Open sectional qualifier. They remained together for 25 years and more than 600 tournaments. During that period, Mickelson won five major championships and 41 PGA Tour titles with Mackay on the bag. The Caddie Hall of Fame notes that Mackay was with Lefty during his 22 consecutive U.S. Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup appearances.

They parted ways in June 2017 by mutual decision. After that, the caddie also worked with Justin Thomas for a couple of years. Thus, his own career shows both sides of the caddie economy. A partnership can last 25 years, or it could end within a couple of years or even months.

There are many such player-caddie partnerships. Jim Furyk and Mike “Fluff” Cowan, for example, worked together for 25 years. Then there’s Jack Nicklaus and Angelo Argea, who worked together for 20 years and won 44 PGA Tour victories.

Mackay only wants to highlight the lack of security for caddies because he is currently working in the media. After Mackay split with Thomas in 2024, he switched to a full-time broadcasting role. He is now at Medinah to cover the Presidents Cup for NBC Sports and the Golf Channel.

The PGA Tour caddie profession does offer the potential for substantial earnings, but those paychecks come with considerable uncertainty. Without guaranteed contracts and with significant out-of-pocket expenses, even experienced caddies can face financial challenges when a partnership ends, as Mackay revealed.