How Much Do LIV Golf Caddies Make?
The big-money League is known for the huge sums of money paid to its players, but what about their caddies?
![Gary Matthews and Joaquin Niemann at the International Series Oman](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/zZiUZJ9rTAnDVzq8LMfmRX-415-80.jpg)
It’s no secret that the 54 players who make up the field at each LIV Golf tournament are well-paid for their appearances, with the winner of each of its regular events banking $4m and even the player at the foot of the leaderboard after each no-cut contest earning $50,000.
But what about the caddies? Not surprisingly, they are also well rewarded for their efforts over the three days of action for each tournament.
Like other circuits, caddies typically receive 10% of the prize money claimed by a tournament’s winner and between 5% and 7% depending on how high up the leaderboard a player finishes. Given that, it’s safe to say that the vast majority of caddies earn a good living from their work alongside a LIV golfer.
A quick look at the LIV Golf money list tells us that, before the 12th tournament of the 2024 season, LIV Golf Greenbrier, all but five of the 58 players that have had teed it up at some point this season have earned north of $1m.
That means that, even for the last of those, reserve John Catlin, whose earnings stood at $1,091,867, his caddie Barry Cornwall will likely have claimed at least $65,000 - and that’s from just four appearances.
John Catlin's caddie Barry Cornwall has likely made over $65,000 from just four LIV Golf appearances this season
At the top of the money list before LIV Golf Greenbrier, where the circuit celebrates a big milestone in the first round, stood Torque GC captain Joaquin Niemann.
His two wins alone this season will have boosted the bank balance of caddie Gary Matthews by around $800,000, but Niemann has been remarkably consistent all season, with seven other top-10 finishes and just two falling short of that standard, which left him with prize money of over $14.2m with three events to play.
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Taking the likely percentages for each of those finishes into account, that means Matthews will now have earned over $1.2m for his work alongside the Chilean this season, and that’s without factoring in the additional earnings for tournaments beyond the circuit where Niemann has appeared, including the Majors.
Now deep into its third season, LIV Golf continues to offer more money than even the PGA Tour’s lucrative signature events can generally manage. While each of its players is rewarded just for teeing it up at the events, their caddies are also making serious money for their own efforts.
Mike has over 25 years of experience in journalism, including writing on a range of sports throughout that time, such as golf, football and cricket. Now a freelance staff writer for Golf Monthly, he is dedicated to covering the game's most newsworthy stories.
He has written hundreds of articles on the game, from features offering insights into how members of the public can play some of the world's most revered courses, to breaking news stories affecting everything from the PGA Tour and LIV Golf to developmental Tours and the amateur game.
Mike grew up in East Yorkshire and began his career in journalism in 1997. He then moved to London in 2003 as his career flourished, and nowadays resides in New Brunswick, Canada, where he and his wife raise their young family less than a mile from his local course.
Kevin Cook’s acclaimed 2007 biography, Tommy’s Honour, about golf’s founding father and son, remains one of his all-time favourite sports books.
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