LIV Golf star's caddie has earned astronomical amount in prize money this season
Joaquin Niemann's caddie has earned an eye-popping amount from his player's performances on the LIV Golf tour this year, which has included two tournament wins
It’s not just the players who are racking it in on the LIV Golf tour – the caddies are earning eye-popping sums too.
The bag carriers may be the unsung heroes of the sport but they’re certainly appreciated, and well remunerated. Typically, a caddie will earn 10% of their players’ victory purse, 7% for a top 10 and 5% for anything else.
One of the most consistent players in the Saudi-backed league this year has been Joaquin Niemann, who has won two tournaments, with each victory netting him $4m (just over £3million each). The 25-year-old from Chile has topped up his earnings with a string of other top-10 finishes.
Niemann finished a comparatively lowly tied-15 at last month’s Greenbrier tournament, although it still netted him a handy $273,000 (just over £200,000). Therefore, heading into this weekend’s tournament in Chicago, he had pocketed $14.5million (just over £11million) in 2024.
That’s also good news for caddie Gary Matthews. Using the aforementioned formula, the bagman will have earned $1.3million (almost £1million) from LIV events alone, not even including the major tournaments, prior to LIV Golf Chicago, which concludes today (Sunday).
Matthews could be in for another bumper payday in the Windy City, with Niemann tied fourth on four-under par heading into the final round, three shots behind leader John Rahm. Rahm has been in the headlines recently over his refusal to pay his outstanding fines for defecting to LIV, which could make him ineligible for the 2025 Ryder Cup.
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In order to remain eligible for next year’s contest at Bethpage, Rahm has to play in four DP World Tour events this season – the Olympics counts as one – and he revealed on Wednesday he had entered the required three tournaments. He is set to play in those tournaments after appealing against the fines, although he hasn't agreed to pay them.
Rahm’s Ryder Cup and Legion XIII teammate in LIV, Tyrrell Hatton, was able to contest the British Masters recently by appealing against his fines and Rahm has now followed suit. Speaking ahead of LIV Chicago, Rahm said: “I’m not a big fan of the fines.
“I don’t intend to pay the fines and we keep trying to have a discussion with them [the DP World Tour] about how we can make this happen. I intend to play in Spain [at the Spanish Open later this month]. Whether they let me play or not is a different thing.”
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