Scottie Scheffler is arguably the best golfer walking the planet right now. He piles up trophies and paychecks like nobody else currently on tour. Yet away from the course, money clearly is not his top priority at all.
That laid-back attitude toward cash has quietly led to one of golf’s quirkiest personal arrangements. Scheffler has openly admitted that he does not personally handle how his longtime caddie is paid.
The full story behind that unusual setup says plenty about trust, teamwork, and what actually matters most to golf’s top-ranked star today.
A cash deal built on trust
Scottie Scheffler dominates every leaderboard he touches. He wins majors, cashes giant checks, and sits comfortably atop the world rankings. Yet when it comes to managing that fortune, he openly says he needs professional help.
The world number one has openly admitted that paying his longtime caddie, Ted Scott, was never something he handled himself. Instead, he leaned on a financial manager to sort out the exact numbers each week.
That arrangement might sound unusual for a four-time major champion, but Scheffler has never pretended to be a numbers guy. He would much rather focus on golf and let a professional handle the math.
Scheffler admits he is basically a child
Back in 2024, Scheffler made a candid confession on the Pardon My Take podcast that quickly went viral among golf fans everywhere online. He said he was basically a child when money conversations came up.
He explained that a financial helper takes care of bills and calculates exactly how much Ted Scott is fairly owed after each tournament. She simply texts him the final number every single week.
Scheffler’s honest answer felt refreshing in a sport often obsessed with prize money and world rankings. He seemed genuinely uninterested in tracking every single dollar earned, choosing instead to trust someone else completely with it.
How caddie pay really works
PGA Tour caddies are not exactly salaried employees in the traditional office sense at all. A commonly cited structure is 5% of a player’s earnings for making the cut, 7% for a top-10 finish, and 10% for a victory.
Caddies may also receive a weekly base salary or retainer, meaning their compensation is not necessarily based entirely on commission. Individual arrangements can differ substantially between players.
As a result, a caddie’s tournament earnings can vary considerably. A victory can produce a large bonus, while missing the cut generally means there is no performance-based share of the player’s prize money.
Ted Scott’s rise to golf riches
Ted Scott has caddied on the PGA Tour since 2000, building a strong reputation long before he ever met Scheffler. He spent over fifteen years working alongside Bubba Watson, helping him capture two green jackets.
When Scott joined Scheffler in late 2021, few people predicted just how lucrative that partnership would eventually become. Scheffler’s rapid rise to world number one turned his caddie into one of golf’s highest-paid earners.
Estimates based on commonly cited caddie compensation rates put Scott’s 2024 bonus earnings at more than $5 million. That impressive figure comfortably surpassed that of several full-time PGA Tour players who competed that very same year.
A record season fuels the payout
Scottie Scheffler capped his 2026 PGA TOUR season by winning the TOUR Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta and earning the $10 million winner’s prize.
The victory pushed Scheffler’s official PGA TOUR career earnings to $130,390,661, moving him past Tiger Woods, who has $120,999,166 in official career earnings. Scheffler also missed the start of the 2025 season after puncturing his right hand on broken glass while preparing homemade ravioli on Christmas Day.
When a stand-in caddie cashes in
Even backup caddies can strike gold when Scheffler is involved in a tournament. When Scott had to step away for a family matter, Scheffler turned to Michael Cromie, who normally worked for golfer Chris Kirk.
Cromie helped guide Scheffler to a hard-fought win at the 2025 BMW Championship, a big tournament carrying a $3.6 million top prize at Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills, Maryland.
Following standard caddie pay practice, Cromie reportedly walked away with roughly $360,000 for just four days of steady work. He even kept a shiny gold Rolex watch, too.
Little-known fact: Scheffler was reportedly still driving the same old Chevy Suburban his father had handed down to him in college when he won the 2022 Masters.
Money talks behind the fairway smiles
Despite the massive numbers involved, Scheffler rarely seems fixated on his personal earnings in public interviews. He often insists that simply winning golf tournaments matters far more to him than any paycheck attached.
Ted Scott earned an estimated $1.92 million during the entire 2025 season alone, comfortably topping the average PGA Tour player’s earnings of $1.73 million.
Scott also receives a weekly base salary reported to be in the low‑to‑mid four figures, regardless of how Scheffler actually finishes each week. That steady baseline cushions the inevitable weeks when tournament results simply do not go their way.
TL;DR
- Scheffler relies on a financial manager to calculate Ted Scott’s weekly caddie pay.
- He jokingly described himself as a child when it comes to money during a 2024 podcast appearance.
- PGA Tour caddies typically earn five, seven, or ten percent, depending on finish.
- Scheffler’s 2026 season pushed his career earnings past Tiger Woods on the money list.
- Stand-in caddie Michael Cromie earned about $360,000 in one week.
- Ted Scott has outearned several full-time PGA Tour players in recent seasons.
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This article was made with AI assistance and human editing.
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