One year since he teamed with Matt Kuchar for a memorable win that led to a less memorable dispute over compensation, caddie David Ortiz said he harbors no ill will toward his former player.
Ortiz, better known as “El Tucan” was a fill-in caddie for Kuchar at last year’s Mayakoba Golf Classic. Kuchar went on to win the tournament, his first PGA Tour title in more than four years, and pocketed $1.3 million. Ortiz became the centerpiece of a social media firestorm when word got out earlier this year that Kuchar had only paid him $5,000 for the week’s work rather than a typical caddie salary of 5 to 10 percent of a winner’s check.
Kuchar eventually paid Ortiz an additional $45,000, and while that still fell below what an everyday looper might expect to receive, Ortiz is willing to move on according to a New York Post report.
“Kuchar is a good person,” Ortiz said. “I’m not angry. Everything is good. Not paying was not good. But I have no anger.”
According to the report, Ortiz initially planned to invest some of his earnings from Kuchar into building a laundromat, but decided against it over fears that he’d be charged inflated prices by local workers who had learned of his high-profile windfall.
He’s also experienced an uptick in demand to caddie at Mayakoba, where resort visitors are now willing to pay a higher price to have the man that guided Kuchar to victory on their bag for the day.
Ortiz reportedly bought a used BMW with part of the money he received from Kuchar, with much of the remaining funds going toward his business ventures and everyday needs outside of caddying.
“Fifty thousand dollars, for me, is big,” Ortiz said. “It’s everything to me and not much to (Kuchar). The $50,000 I needed for my business and to fix my kitchen and bathroom at home and to buy a new cell phone.”