World No.1 and reigning Open champion Scottie Scheffler heads into this week’s tournament at Royal Birkdale as the bookmakers’ favourite
Scottie Scheffler has said he has a ‘childish’ financial arrangement with long-term caddied and mentor Ted Scott(Image: R&A via Getty Images)
Scottie Scheffler will not be the only man hoping he can make it back-to-back triumphs at The Open this weekend. His long-term caddie Ted Scott will also be heavily invested in the world No.1’s bid for glory – and the sizeable payday that comes with it.
Scheffler arrives at Royal Birkdale looking to avoid his first major-less season since 2023 after narrowly missing out at both the Masters and US Open earlier this year. The American lifted the Claret Jug for the first time at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland 12 months ago and heads into this week’s event as the bookmakers’ favourite, just ahead of world No.2 Rory McIlroy.
As well as the prestige of being crowned Champion Golfer of the Year, victory on Merseyside would also earn the 30-year-old another enormous payday. The total prize fund for this year’s Open has increased to $17.75million (£13.3m) – up by $750,000 (£560,000) from last year – with the winner set to pocket an eye-watering $3.2m (£2.4m).
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That would also be welcome news for Scott, Scheffler’s trusted right-hand man, who would be entitled to a healthy cut of the winnings. Although the exact details of their arrangement have never been made public, most caddies typically receive around 10 per cent of the winner’s prize money, with smaller percentages for lower placings in the standings.
Many also receive a fixed salary. That means Scott, who has carried Scheffler’s bag since 2021 after previously working with two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson, could collect a cool $320,000 (£240,000) if his player successfully defends the title.
Remarkably, Scheffler has admitted he barely gives the financial side of their arrangement a second thought and leaves others to deal with it. Speaking on the Pardon My Take podcast in 2024, he said: “It’s been a fun year. I don’t really think about the money that much. At the end of the day, I’m just playing golf and the money is just a gift on top of that.
“We have a girl that helps us pay bills because I’m basically a child and can’t keep track of that stuff. She quickly took over that job and texts me at the end of each week saying. ‘Hey, this is how much we’re paying Ted.’ I’m like, ‘That’s great.’”
Scheffler has earned more than $100m in prize money since Scott became his caddie(Image: Ben Jared, PGA TOURvia Getty Images)
According to the PGA Tour, Scheffler has earned more than $114m (£85m) in official prize money during his career so far, placing him third on the all-time list behind Tiger Woods and McIlroy. Approximately $105m (£78m) of that total has come since Scott took over his bag in late 2021, with Scheffler topping the PGA Tour’s money list in each of the four subsequent seasons.
It means Scott’s share of the prize money alone is likely to have run into the several millions of dollars, more than many of Scheffler’s playing colleagues will have taken home over the same period.
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