Caddies at 150th Open set to make record sum

Caddies at the 150th Open will take home record-breaking cheques from St Andrews this week.

The R&A has increased the overall prize fund by 22% for the historic championship, meaning more than £11 million is now on offer.

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With that increase for the players comes an increase for their bagmen, and AceOdds has calculated how much the men carrying the clubs are set to make.

The winning caddie will get a 10% cut of their player’s £2,108,300 prize, giving them winnings of £210,830. The rest of the top ten get a 7% slice of the earnings.

Meanwhile, the caddie whose player finishes 70th will take a 5% cut, making £1,358 from their player’s £27,155 cheque.

For the top caddies, golf is a lucrative business. Justin Thomas’s former bagman Jimmy Johnson and Jonathan Jakovac, who carries for Collin Morikawa, were the highest earners in 2021.

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Both are estimated to have made in excess of £421,000 last year.

The 150th Open estimated caddie winnings

1st £210,830
2nd £85,892
3rd £55,077
4th £42,798
5th £34,416
6th £29,811
7th £25,620
8th £21,606
9th £18,949
10th £17,119