Since Rory McIlroy hired best friend, Harry Diamond as his caddie in 2017, the pair have enjoyed plenty of success together - including two Players Championships, three Race To Dubai titles, a couple of Tour Championships and - of course - a first Masters.
They have both earned an eye-watering amount of money, too, and McIlroy's performances throughout 2025 have seen that number grow at an exponential rate - well past the $100 million mark on the PGA Tour career money list, at least.
While a number of strong finishes have obviously swollen the five-time Major winner's bank balance, there is a very good chance Diamond would have benefitted greatly as well.
Following the rest of his trade, the pro looper will either be on a retainer or an annual salary as a vital part of McIlroy's team. But the opportunity for an extra bump in Diamond's earnings arrives every time they enter an event.
The general consensus in men's pro golf is that caddies take a cut of 5-10% depending on how high up the leaderboard their player finishes. Should McIlroy win an event, then Diamond might well expect to receive 10% while a result inside the top-10 could result in a 7-8% bonus and outside that may see 5%.
It is important to stress that the numbers in relation to Diamond's bonuses are educated predictions rather than bona fide facts.
Either way, McIlroy and his looper made a decent start to their season when the former finished T4th at the Dubai Desert Classic on the DP World Tour. The World No.2 collected prize money of roughly $437,000 and may well have passed just over $30,000 of that on to Diamond.
The Northern Irish duo then began their PGA Tour season in the best possible way via a victory at the Pebble-Beach Pro-Am - a Signature Event with a $20 million total prize purse. McIlroy banked a very healthy $3.6 million and - sticking to the common practice - would have theoretically shared $360,000 of that with his on-course assistant.
A couple of relatively-disappointing finishes for McIlroy thereafter - T17th at the Genesis Invitational and T15th at the Arnold Palmer Invitational - still saw Diamond earn an extra $31,000 or so as his boss bagged just over $620,000 across the fortnight.
The 29-time PGA Tour winner made up for it, however, after eventually seeing off JJ Spaun in a Monday playoff at TPC Sawgrass' Stadium Course to earn the $4.5 million top prize. Diamond, credited for some brilliant work on the bag during that week, was likely rewarded with a $450,000 check of his own.
Then, in what was considered as McIlroy's warm-up event before The Masters, the duo ended T5th at the Texas Children's Houston Open to scoop a check for $337,843.75 - a possible $23,649 of which could have been transferred to Diamond.
Both men's second-largest reward of the year arrived at the end of a dramatic yet successful week at Augusta National in April. McIlroy finally slipped on a Green Jacket to put his name among the six legends of the game who have completed the career Grand Slam. In the process, McIlroy collected a record $4.2 million and could well have shared $420,000 with his best friend.
In the months thereafter, wins became much harder to come by for McIlroy and Diamond, although a handful of top-10s bumped up their respective earnings handsomely.
McIlroy and Shane Lowry finished T12th at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans to collect a little over $69,000, passing something like $3,450 on to their individual loopers.
The Northern Irishman's next appearance - at the Truist Championship - resulted in a T7th finish and a check for $602,500. Diamond could have seen a little more than $42,000 there.
Two disappointing weeks at the PGA Championship and RBC Canadian Open pumped the brakes on the pair's earnings somewhat, with a T47th result at Quail Hollow helping McIlroy Garner just shy of $50,000 - $2,500 for Diamond - and a rare missed cut at TPC Toronto seeing McIlroy fail to collect any prize money at all.
Yet, the World No.2 responded in kind thereafter and finished inside the top-20 at the US Open to pick up just over $243,000 while possibly passing $12,150 on to his looper as a thank you. The following week, McIlroy ended T6th at the Travelers Championship to bank $695,000 - a potential $48,650 heading Diamond's way.
A return to British shores maintained McIlroy's positive momentum as he finished T2nd at the Scottish Open and T7th on his Open Championship homecoming at Royal Portrush. They secured him $1.24 million in prize money, with just under $90,000 possibly falling to Diamond.
After skipping the FedEx St Jude Championship, the five-time Major winner endured a disappointing truncated Playoff run with prize money of $837,000 from his two top-20 results. As a result, Diamond's likely payout was limited to the region of $42,000.
McIlroy flew back across the Atlantic once more in September and picked up his fourth win of the year in dramatic circumstances at the Irish Open.
A playoff win over Sweden's Joakim Lagergren garnered McIlroy a shade over $1 million and potentially helped Diamond bank an extra $100,000 or so before a much more frugal BMW PGA Championship in which neither man greatly inflated their earnings thanks to McIlroy's T20th finish.
As it stands, Diamond has possibly picked up almost $1.66 million in bonus money so far this term. For context, that is roughly $500,000 lower than the PGA Tour pro's average earnings mark ahead of the Ryder Cup but nearly a million dollars below what Scottie Scheffler's caddie, Ted Scott could have earned in bonuses this year.
Harry Diamond Earnings 2025
Event |
Position |
McIlroy Prize Money |
Predicted Caddie Rate |
Possible Caddie Bonus |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Dubai Desert Classic |
T4th |
$437,447.94 |
7% |
$30,621.36 |
AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am |
1st |
$3,600,000 |
10% |
$360,000 |
Genesis Invitational |
T17th |
$270,714.29 |
5% |
$13,535.71 |
Arnold Palmer Invitational |
T15th |
$349,000 |
5% |
$17,450 |
The Players Championship |
1st |
$4,500,000 |
10% |
$450,000 |
Texas Children's Houston Open |
T5th |
$337,843.75 |
7% |
$23,649.06 |
The Masters |
1st |
$4,200,000 |
10% |
$420,000 |
Zurich Classic of New Orleans |
T12th |
$69,092 |
5% |
$3,454.60 |
Truist Championship |
T7th |
$602,500 |
7% |
$42,175 |
PGA Championship |
T47th |
$49,190 |
5% |
$2,459.50 |
RBC Canadian Open |
MC |
$0 |
0% |
$0 |
US Open |
T19th |
$243,070 |
5% |
$12,153.50 |
Travelers Championship |
T6th |
$695,000 |
7% |
$48,650 |
Genesis Scottish Open |
T2nd |
$788,175 |
7% |
$55,172.25 |
The Open Championship |
T7th |
$451,833 |
7% |
$31,628.31 |
BMW Championship |
T12th |
$441,000 |
5% |
$22,050 |
Tour Championship |
T23rd |
$395,000 |
5% |
$19,750 |
Irish Open |
1st |
$1,020,000 |
10% |
$102,000 |
BMW PGA Championship |
T20th |
$103,275 |
5% |
$5,163.75 |
TOTAL |
TOTAL |
|||
$18,553,140.98 |
$1,659,913.04 |
