LOS ANGELES — Matt Kuchar apologized Friday for what he said were insensitive comments about the caddie he used at the Mayakoba Classic in Mexico last fall and said he would pay the $50,000 the caddie requested.

He also said he would make a donation to the tournament to be distributed to charities in the Cancun area.

“Golf is a game where we call penalties on ourselves,” Kuchar said in a statement released by the PGA Tour. “I should have done that long ago and not let this situation escalate.”

Kuchar’s regular caddie couldn’t make the trip to Mexico in November, so he used David Ortiz from El Camaleon Golf Club. Kuchar won and earned $1,296,000.

Ortiz received $5,000.

Kuchar defended the payment — regular PGA Tour caddies typically get 10 percent from the winner — by saying they had an agreement at the start of the week.

“For a guy who makes $200 a day, a $5,000 week is a really good week,” Kuchar said.

Ortiz thought it was worth $50,000. He was offered an additional $15,000, which he turned down because he found it unacceptable.