An indication of how quickly the women’s game is growing can be found in the prize money offered in some of its biggest events.
The five Majors have all seen significant increases in the size of the purses in recent years, with two of this year’s events, the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and the US Women’s Open, each reaching $12m.
The last of the year’s Majors, the AIG Women’s Open, didn’t offer quite that amount, but there was still a record payout for the tournament of $9.75m.
For context, that’s over double the $4.5m that players competed for a share of just five years ago.
Back then, Sophia Popov claimed $675,000 for her surprise win at Royal Troon, but this year, the player who lifted the trophy, Miyu Yamashita, pocketed a record $1.425m.
Not all of that money will find its way into the Japanese star’s bank account, though, with her caddie, John Bennett, being paid a sizeable chunk of the sum.
Winning caddies typically receive 10% of the prize money so, last year, that meant Lydia Ko’s caddie Paul Cormack would have won $135,000 for his work in helping the New Zealander claim her first AIG Women’s Open title. At Royal Porthcawl, Bennett will bank over $10,000 more at $145,250.
Lydia Ko’s caddie Paul Cormack earned a big payday after helping the New Zealander win the 2024 AIG Women’s Open
(Image credit: Getty Images)
The caddies of the two players finishing runner-up, Charley Hull and Minami Katsu, will also be well paid for their efforts.
That’s thanks to the 7% of prize money typically awarded to caddies of players finishing in the top 10, with 5% going to the rest.
Hull and Katsu will each claim $829,741 in prize money, with the caddies taking home around $55,000 apiece.
Charley Hull’s caddie Adam Woodward will have earned around $55,000 for her runner-up placing
(Image credit: Getty Images)
While that’s less than half the money handed to the winning caddie, it’s still likely a decent enough sum to at least partially offset the disappointment of not quite doing enough to help their player win the trophy.
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