While I suspect the TOP names have entourages (or, at least, personal assistants) who handle all of their day-to-day, travel, and business arrangements, I don’t know how far down that reaches. And most (all?) pros have agents. I imagine the agency contract would cover how much the agent does to earn his/her cut.
A couple of years back I read an article about Davis Love III on a trip. Several years past his prime, but still a big name. And it was full of mundane chores such as arranging for his dry cleaning. I often think of travel being glamorous and money being no object to these guys, but in this article, DL3 was basically just staying in a hotel, having to entertain and feed himself in his off time. Golfers have to house themselves. They often rent - and share - private homes near the course the week of a tourn. They - and caddies - get comped tons of food at the course. And they have fitness facilities at the course. But they are the same as us. If they are just sleeping in a room, they need to decide whether it is worth them to pay $69.95 or $1k a night - or somewhere in the middle.
Golfers do get comped things such as cars during tournaments. I figure one of the reason so many of them wear logos from jet-sharing companies is because they use them. Golfers who have exemptions (which is truly a fascinating topic. Exemptions are THE biggest factor once you have your tour card) have the flexibility to travel home between tournaments. Tho a tourn is generally Thurs-Sun, Wed is generally practice day, and Tues is Pro-Am. I believe players are generally expected to be at both. Qualifying is on Monday. But a lot of players live in the SW/Cal, or Fla. After starting in Hawaii, the tour goes to Cal, then to Fla. When it is in those areas, a lot of the top players essentially commute - at least for some tourneys. A couple of the top players have pilot’s licenses, and some own their own jets.
I really don’t know what the caddie is responsible for off the course. I suspect the golfer keeps the equipment near him while travelling, rather than the caddie. As someone said, guys who are starting out, lower on the list, likely hire a caddy the week of the tournament. Some have to show up on Monday to qualify to play the tourn.
I imagine pros make AMPLE use of recaps and such to schlep their luggage around.
As a side note - golf is the one sport I pay the most attention to. And it is very stark in the fact that money earned is the prime ranking factor (other than winning certain bigname tourneys.) A while back I tried to figure out how much other individual athletes earned. Liker downhill skiers. And I really found it hard to locate such info. I do believe tennis players and race car drivers are consistently among the highest paid individual athletes.
Of course, when talking income, endorsements a whole nuther matter.
Finally, I believe all sports organizations have “intro courses” for new players and rookies, basically trying to explain some basics about how to live the pro life. I remember hearing the PGA advises to tip well. And I remember hearing NBA and NFL stressing investments.