With most tournaments having multi-million dollar purses, that means the caddies for players that win a tournament (or even finish in the top ten) can take home a six-figure pay-day for a week’s worth of work. Not a bad haul! Sometimes, though, the caddie doesn’t need the money at all. That’s what happened during the Hero World Challenge, when a billionaire stepped in for a few rounds. PGA golfer Tony Finau’s regular caddie, Mark Urbanek, had to miss the event to stay home with his expecting wife. Needing a caddy, Finau called on his friend Ryan Smith, 43, who just so happens to be worth about $2 billion. Smith co-founded the analytics company Qualtrics—which SAP purchased for $8 billion—and is the majority owner of the Utah Jazz. Smith is no stranger to the golfing world. He owns a house on the 18th hole at Pebble Beach Golf Links and has been playing golf since he was a kid in Utah. He even worked at a course when he was only 14 years old. This isn’t the first time a caddie has been the wealthiest person on the golf course, either. Back in 2014, Scott McNealy served as a caddie for his son, then-18-year-old Maverick McNealy. The elder McNealy is the co-founder of Sun Microsystems and is worth over a billion dollars, as well. Finau ended up finished tied for seventh, which gave him $114,000 in prize money. He had been asked during the tournament whether he’d give his substitute caddie a cut if he ended up winning. “Oh yeah, no question about it,” Finau replied. It’s unclear if the golfer ended up sparing $7,980 for Smith after his seventh-place finish. Even if he didn’t, we don’t think Smith will be too upset. After all, he’s got plenty of money to spare.
