Kuchar remains under fire

An on-air roasting from Australian golf commentator Wayne Riley was proof Matt Kuchar’s PGA Tour caddie payment saga won’t dissolve soon, despite the American doubling down on his apology yesterday.

‘‘You don’t leave coins on the green, especially with Matt Kuchar around . . . they might disappear,’’ Riley joked during the broadcast of the Genesis Open.

Riley was referring to the fact Kuchar, on Saturday, agreed to give local Mexican caddie David Giral Ortiz $50,000 ($A70,000) for his role in Kuchar’s Mayakoba Classic victory in November. Kuchar won $1.3 million ($A1.8m) for his eighth PGA Tour victory and initially paid Ortiz just $5000 ($A7000).

Regular PGA Tour caddies can receive up to 10 per cent of a golfer’s prize money, but Kuchar’s regular caddie, John Wood, was not available that week.

On Saturday in Los Angeles, Kuchar told reporters he regretted defending his frugality.

Kuchar faced backlash for saying on earlier last week that ‘‘for a [caddie] who makes $200 a day, $5,000 is a really big week’’.

‘‘Listen, I was stubborn, hardheaded,’’ Kuchar said, after an apology via a statement he released on Friday.

‘‘In my mind, I had it as a deal is a deal but after I won the tournament a deal wasn’t a deal; not a good deal.

‘‘Any transaction, all parties should come out feeling like they’ve won and, certainly in David’s case, he did not feel like he won in that situation.’’