Cliff Ellis, the caddie who walked off on Alejandro Tosti mid-round at the Biltmore Championship, and Tosti have each shared their side of what happened with Monday Q Info.
Video of the walk-off spread quickly last week. It showed Ellis setting down Tosti’s bag, pulling off his bib and leaving the course during Thursday’s first round.
Monday Q reporter Ryan French first heard about it from an anonymous account. The person behind it turned out to be Ellis himself.
Ellis began working for Tosti in May at the CJ Cup in the Dallas area. Monday Q reported that Ellis took no weekly salary, instead earning 6 percent of Tosti’s prize money. Multiple PGA Tour caddies told the outlet that setup is virtually unheard of for a full-time caddie. Tosti said the arrangement was Ellis’s idea.
The pair worked eight events together, plus the final stage of U.S. Open qualifying, where Tosti earned a spot at Shinnecock Hills. They made one cut: a T-40 at the Canadian Open worth $40,670.
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Ellis said his share of that check arrived more than a month late. Tosti, whose attorney sat in on his interview with Monday Q, said he was waiting on a W-9 from Ellis. He provided a screenshot of a July 7 email that appeared to show an invoice from Ellis, along with a payment confirmation dated July 20. Ellis disputed that the email was the first time they had discussed the payment.
Ellis also told Monday Q that Tosti lost his temper almost weekly, sometimes at him. He pointed to the Rocket Classic, where Tosti opened with an 82. Ellis said Tosti slammed clubs and hit penalty-area stakes, and that one thrown club landed near him, though he made clear he did not believe it was thrown at him.
Tosti confirmed tour officials spoke with him after that round. He said he has worked with a psychologist for a long time and has been trying to stay calm on the course. Tosti was suspended in 2023 after multiple incidents on the Korn Ferry Tour, which the tour described as a disciplinary matter.
At the Biltmore, Ellis said friction started on the range over where he had placed the bag. On the 18th hole, after a drive and a wedge to eight feet, Tosti asked why Ellis had packed an umbrella. Ellis said there was a slight chance of rain.
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Tosti told Monday Q he takes pride in “having the lightest bag on tour, I don’t even take a single extra tee,” and said the umbrella added three pounds. Ellis alleged Tosti repeatedly insulted him during the exchange. Tosti acknowledged it was contentious but disputed the language Ellis described.
Ellis told Tosti he was done and left. A fan carried the bag the rest of the round.
After Monday Q contacted the tour, Andy Levinson, the PGA Tour’s senior vice president of tournament administration, called Ellis. Ellis said Levinson told him he should not have gone to the media and that leaving mid-round was unprofessional. Ellis briefly asked French not to run the story, then called back the next day and asked him to publish it.
Tosti and Ellis both say neither has faced discipline from the tour. Tosti missed the cut, meaning Ellis would not have been paid for the week either way.
