Golf legend faced humiliating apology after caddie payment backfired in public

Golf legend Matt Kuchar has enjoyed a long and successful career so far, winning 18 titles and reaching world No. 4 along the way. However, the 46-year-old has endured some blips along the way.

Notably, the American came under fire in 2019 after his public falling out with his fill-in caddie David Giral Ortiz. Kuchar was heavily criticised for underpaying his local caddie following his Mayakoba Classic success, prompting some of his relatives to even speak out against him.

Kuchar and Ortiz had a deal in place which would see the latter earn £748 ($1,000) if they missed the cut, £1,496 ($2,000) if the golfer makes the cut and £2,244 ($3,000) if he achieves a top-20 finish. Ortiz would also be due £2,922 ($4,000) if Kuchar finished in the top 10, but a fee for winning the entire competition was not agreed.

As a result, following Kuchar's win, he paid Ortiz £3,739 ($5,000) in cash. However, the latter did not rule the fee to be sufficient given that the golfer had just won £969,000 ( $1,296,000) and most caddies take home 10 percent of winnings.

Both individuals eventually settled on £37k ($50,000), though the ordeal made a significant dent on more than just Kuchar's wallet, with the golfer opening up on the saga 12 months later. He said: "That was a tough thing on me and my family, but it was really tough when I heard from my grandmother and she's reading headlines about her grandson.

"I think I've always tried to make her proud. I've got kids of my own, you try to set a good example. I'm disappointed in myself. It's a moment I'm not proud of, but it's one of those things you do your best as a father to teach kids lessons, and there's no better thing than to show them, you do your best to make it right and try to keep moving forward and stay positive.

"I know what happened post-tournament with David is something I'm not proud of. Made some headlines that certainly I'm not proud of, but I've done my best to make amends, to make things right with David, to do things right by the community."

Returning to the competition, Kuchar took his regular caddie John Wood.