Kuchar Pays Caddie $5k, Is Shamed, Pays $50k

[iacas]

2 minutes ago, Elmer said:

"What the caddie would receive for a win was not discussed."

I didn't say anything that contradicts that. It's a step program: what he'd get if he finished 4th or 17th specifically wasn't discussed either. So, the last step discussed was $4k for a top 10. He gave $5k.

2 minutes ago, Elmer said:

"While most people agree with Ortiz that he didn't merit the normal 10 percent, keep in mind the caddie's intake was less than half of ONE percent"

And about 1000% what he'd normally make for four or five days.

2 minutes ago, Elmer said:

Kucher won 1.3 million and is worth nearly 46 million or more.

Yeah, so? Particularly the $46M bit, which is probably not even close to accurate. That's his total career winnings. He's taxed, he pays agents, caddies, etc.

But whether you're worth $10 or $10,000,000,000, a Snickers still costs $1.59.

2 minutes ago, Elmer said:

His actions and comments show how out of touch with working folks he is.

Meh. I think people are seeing what they want to see.

He could have been generous and given the guy more, but he paid what he agreed to pay, plus a 25% bonus on top of that.

2 minutes ago, Elmer said:

Kucher is another example of why golf is seen as a elitist. 

How do you connect those dots?

Matt Kuchar's far more skilled than the bag carrier.

2 minutes ago, Elmer said:

It is a far better PR look if he comes out and says he made a mistake and pay him a decent sum. if not he will be fielding question about what he pays his caddie for some time. 

He won't, because he probably simply won't hire a local caddie again. His long-time regular caddie doesn't seem to have any issues, or he'd have not been his long-time regular caddie. His wife has caddied for him in the past, too.

Still playing a little devil's advocate, and yes, it would've been nice if the caddie had been paid a bit more. But I can see the other side, too: he carried the bag for four days. Doesn't speak English. Didn't help Matt much. And Matt not only paid what they'd agreed upon, but he paid 25% more.

[phillyk]

52 minutes ago, Elmer said:

His actions and comments show how out of touch with working folks he is.

You kidding? Fine let me caddy for him and make 5G’s for 4 days work. I can take off a month and a half of work with that.

Yea, it could’ve been more. But like I’ve said he paid the agreed terms of service. This is not chump change for working folks. $5000 is a lot. 

Edited February 15, 2019 by phillyk

[chspeed]

50 minutes ago, iacas said:

I didn't say anything that contradicts that. It's a step program: what he'd get if he finished 4th or 17th specifically wasn't discussed either. So, the last step discussed was $4k for a top 10. He gave $5k.

This is what Kuchar says happened, but the caddie has a different take. This is from the NYT article about this today.

Quote

 

"Graubart said he and a friend helped Ortiz write emails to Kuchar’s agent, Mark Steinberg, requesting more compensation. In a Jan. 23 email, which The New York Times obtained, Ortiz wrote that he had asked Kuchar for a percentage of his first-place check if he were to win. The existence of the emails was first reported by Golf.com.

“Matt said ‘sure’ with a smile,” Ortiz wrote in the email, “not believing that he would actually win the tournament.”"

 

Regardless, I still don't think this is the core issue for Kuchar. A significant portion of the press and golf fans (me among them) feel that Kuchar was being cheap, regardless of the deal that was made beforehand. Seems to me like Steinberg, if not Kuchar, thought that it would be better to put this to rest - thus the subsequent offer.

 

A Fat Check for Matt Kuchar Yielded a Slim Bonus for His Caddie in Mexico - The New York Times

---

The caddie, David Giral Ortiz, received $5,000 when Kuchar won $1.296 million at the Mayakoba Classic in November. A typical caddie fee would...

 

1 hour ago, iacas said:

He won't, because he probably simply won't hire a local caddie again. His long-time regular caddie doesn't seem to have any issues, or he'd have not been his long-time regular caddie. His wife has caddied for him in the past, too.

I think he hill cave to PR pressure and pay the $50k.

[iacas]

3 minutes ago, chspeed said:

I think he hill cave to PR pressure and pay the $50k.

There's almost no point to it now. Those who now have a negative opinion aren't going to reverse that because, after being pressured relentlessly, he paid what the caddie demanded.

Still playing devil's advocate too… I've heard a LOT of third-party stories about how big of a _____ whatever Matt Kuchar can be to regular people. There's a lot of that out there. He's seemingly, or possibly, never been "a great guy."

[3jacker]

I just want to know... WTF is this Tom Gillis guy?

I see he's calling out Ben Crane, too. Is this his schtick?  Instead of being known just for playing good golf?

[NM Golf]

Little sympathy for Matt Kuchar in Riviera caddie yard

---

On Thursday afternoon the caddie yard at Riviera was abuzz about the dispute after Matt Kuchar doubled down on his position this week that tipping his caddie, David "El Tucan" Ortiz, $2,000 (on top of an...

Matt is still taking it on the chin, and the story points out no one is really coming to his defense. 

Quote

 

Harms himself has played the role of fill-in caddie, at Hilton Head in 2006. He wasn’t planning to work that week when he received a call from Tour looper Steve Hulka, who told him that Aaron Baddeley needed a caddie for the RBC Heritage. Harms took the gig and Baddeley went on to win. Harms collected a cool $65,000 and said he was so grateful to Hulka for the introduction that he gifted him $5,000.

Harms recounted another story about a Tour pro who recently won the Panama Championship with a local caddie on his bag. The caddie’s cut: $10,000. “And that was a Web.com tour event,” Harms said.

 

Based on that Matt is one cheap SOB. I still wonder if he's paid an American caddy the same amount? 

His son caddied for him yesterday and...

Quote

“I hope he pays his son a better allowance than he tips his caddie,” quipped a caddie on the range. 

 

Edited February 15, 2019 by NM Golf

[Yukari]

19 minutes ago, iacas said:

There's almost no point to it now. Those who now have a negative opinion aren't going to reverse that because, after being pressured relentlessly, he paid what the caddie demanded.

Still playing devil's advocate too… I've heard a LOT of third-party stories about how big of a _____ whatever Matt Kuchar can be to regular people. There's a lot of that out there. He's seemingly, or possibly, never been "a great guy."

I did not know there were stories about this.  From reading this section, you would have thought most people have (or had) a high opinion of Kuchar being a good guy. 

I never understood why he was so popular in the first place.  He just seems like your average Joe PGA pro.  

Regardless, this incident just makes him look cheap.  Whether he paid agreed up on price is another matter as even the parties to the agreement seem to be in disagreement.

Edited February 15, 2019 by Yukari

[MacDutch]

No more Kooooch for me and a lot of others.  It will be Boooooch for Matt from now on.

[iacas]

2 minutes ago, Yukari said:

I never understood why he was so popular in the first place.  He just seems like your average Joe PGA pro.  

Because on camera he has a goofy smile and says "awwww shucks" a lot.

[Yukari]

Yeah.  I think Kuchar will lose a significantly more than $50K in endorsements going forward.

Edited February 15, 2019 by Yukari
This was a reply to @MacDutch

[turtleback]

On 2/14/2019 at 10:36 AM, klineka said:

With extremely misleading headlines too...

On CNN "Caddy says pro golfer owes him $45k after win"

No, Kuchar doesn't owe him $45k, the caddie feels he should have been paid $45k. Big difference.

CNN had a misleading headline?

I'm shocked, SHOCKED, I tell you.

LOL

[Elmer]

4 hours ago, iacas said:

 

Still playing a little devil's advocate, and yes, it would've been nice if the caddie had been paid a bit more. But I can see the other side, too: he carried the bag for four days. Doesn't speak English. Didn't help Matt much. And Matt not only paid what they'd agreed upon, but he paid 25% more.

If only Kucher was aware of this when he chose a local caddie while playing a tournament in Mexico!

[iacas]

26 minutes ago, Elmer said:

If only Kucher was aware of this when he chose a local caddie while playing a tournament in Mexico!

What's your point? My point was that the caddie didn't help much, partly because he couldn't even speak English. He carried a bag around.

And it's Kuchar. With an "a."

[Vinsk]

18 minutes ago, iacas said:

My point was that the caddie didn't help much, partly because he couldn't even speak English.

Well to be fair (I know you meant Ortiz, not Matt) we don’t know how good a job the caddie did right? That’s speculation. And FWIW Kuchar himself did say:

“He did just what I was hoping for and looking for.”

[iacas]

3 minutes ago, Vinsk said:

Well to be fair (I know you meant Ortiz, not Matt) we don’t know how good a job the caddie did right? That’s speculation. And FWIW Kuchar himself did say:

“He did just what I was hoping for and looking for.”

Yeah… he carried the bag.

---

Not playing devil's advocate:

• I think Matt was cheap as f*** and should have given the guy maybe $25k or something. That's still only 2% of what he won.
• What he paid was "fair" and "right" - they had a contract and he upheld it.
• El Tucan should have accepted the $15k, and Kuchar could have saved face by saying "oh, man, I thought someone on my team took care of that. I'm sorry."
• I've seen a LOT of stories that paint Kuchar very poorly lately as a result of this.
• $50k? The caddie more than likely hurt Kuchar more than he helped him (not counting Kuchar carrying his own clubs around).

So this is, in the end (and completely IMO) a situation where Matt Kuchar is both "right" but still a tightwad douche.

[Vinsk]

49 minutes ago, iacas said:

Yeah… he carried the bag.

---

Not playing devil's advocate:

• I think Matt was cheap as f*** and should have given the guy maybe $25k or something. That's still only 2% of what he won.
• What he paid was "fair" and "right" - they had a contract and he upheld it.
• El Tucan should have accepted the $15k, and Kuchar could have saved face by saying "oh, man, I thought someone on my team took care of that. I'm sorry."
• I've seen a LOT of stories that paint Kuchar very poorly lately as a result of this.
• $50k? The caddie more than likely hurt Kuchar more than he helped him (not counting Kuchar carrying his own clubs around).

So this is, in the end (and completely IMO) a situation where Matt Kuchar is both "right" but still a tightwad douche.

100% agree...I’ve wanted to express this but can’t do any better than this.

[boogielicious]

Kuchar just caved.

Kuchar statement: 'I want to apologize'

---

"This week, I made comments that were out of touch and insensitive, making a bad situation worse. They made it seem like I was marginalizing David Ortiz...

 

[iacas]

Matt Kuchar is in full scramble mode and is apparently going to pay Ortiz/Tucan the $50k.

Matt Kuchar to apologize to caddie, pay him full $50,000

---

Matt Kuchar said he plans to call caddie David Giral Ortiz later Friday to apologize. In the meantime, he has paid Ortiz the $50,000 he requested, and pledged a donation to the Mayakoba Classic charities.

They just read a statement on the air.

Quote

Following his first round Friday at Riviera Country Club, Kuchar issued a statement in which he apologized and said he would be making full payment of the amount a fill-in caddie requested after the veteran golfer paid him just $5,000 following his victory in November at the Mayakoba Classic.

You can read the rest at the link above.