Golfers’ grotesque greed par for the course

SOCCER players are the sportspeople most commonly reviled for their great wealth.

But there isn’t a soccer star today who could compete with the greed of many golfers.

The grubby case of Matt Kuchar and his stand-in caddy is only the latest example. Kuchar (nicknamed the Cash Machine on the PGA tour for his ability to consistently earn big cheques from high finishes) has been exposed for paying stand-in caddy David Ortiz $5,000 after he won a tournament that came with a $1.3 million reward for the victor.

Convention has it that a player’s regular caddy would receive 10 per cent of the golfer’s tournament winnings.

This doesn’t necessarily apply to a stand-in, and the Floridaborn Kuchar initially defended his extraordinary meanness.

He has over $46m in career earnings so far, but every cent counts, it would appear. Only after he re-read his comments (‘making $5,000 is a great week’) and admitting he ‘cringed’, did he up the pay-off to $50,000.

There was also the wretched business of Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods playing in Las Vegas for a $9m prize last November (with a reported appearance fee of $10m each). Their publicity included a photo in which the two greats posed surrounded by piles of dollar bills.

Had a soccer player done that (or, say, a basketball star, or an NFL big name) the moralising would have been long and loud.

Golfers and their greed, though, get indulged.