Matt Kuchar: "I'm definitely not proud of my caddie tip mistake"

Matt Kuchar has expressed his regret at paying stand-in caddie David Ortiz an initial $5,000 of his $1.296 million first prize when winning last year's Mayakoba Golf Classic.

Kuchar, who returns to the scene of his eighth of nine career PGA Tour titles that he won this time 12 months ago, has accepted that paying a fraction of his pay packet was not the right thing to do when caddies typically earn 10% of the first-place cheque.

WATCH: RORY MCILROY BURNS MATT KUCHAR OVER CADDIE TIP!

In this instance, Ortiz would have walked away with $129,600. 

At the time, Kuchar told one golf website: "For a guy who makes $200 a day, a $5,000 week is a really big week."

As time went on, and discussions got more heated with Ortiz telling Kuchar to "keep your money", the World No.22 eventually stumped up some more money for Ortiz, reportedly increasing his payment to $50,000. 

"What happened post tournament with David is something I'm not proud of, made some headlines that certainly I'm definitely not proud of, but I've done my best to make amends, to make things right with David, to do things right by the community," Kuchar told the media on Tuesday ahead of his title defence at El Camaleon Golf Course. 

They were headlines that Kuchar admits took their toll on his entire family.

"That was the tough thing on me and my family, but it was really tough when I heard from my grandmother and she's reading headlines about her grandson," said Kuchar.

"I think I've always tried to make her proud. I've got kids of my own, you try to set a good example."

Kuchar has scooped more than $50 million in career earnings on the PGA Tour, ranking him eighth in the all-time list. 

Tiger Woods leads the way with more than $120 million, some $30 million ahead of second-placed Phil Mickelson.