“I wanted to finish my career working for Jim Furyk.”
Jim Furyk has a new caddie on his bag this week that looks a lot like the old one, down to the white, fluffy mustache.
That’s because it is none other than Mike “Fluff” Cowan.
Fluff, 76, and Furyk, 54, parted ways amicably after a 25-year run earlier this season. While Furyk was sidelined with injuries, Fluff worked for Taiwan’s C.T. Pan and took up his bag permanently at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson in May. Furyk told him he couldn’t pass up the chance to work for larger purses on the junior circuit and he was prepared to fire Fluff if he didn’t take the job with Pan.
Furyk filled in with friends and his son, Tanner, since resuming play. Fluff suffered an injury when he slipped and fell on wet grass going down a hill at the RBC Canadian Open on June 2 during the final round north of the border. Pan, 32, has not competed since finishing T-35 at the RBC Canadian Open. He’s currently 114th in the FedEx Cup and earned $757,714, including a T-3 finish at the Vidanta Mexico Open.
After a change of heart, Fluff has decided to return to Jim Furyk’s bag full-time.
Furyk, in contrast, has made $46,416 in six starts with just one top-20 finish to his credit. What’s the old saying about absence makes the heart grow fonder? Fluff, who has worked for Peter Jacobsen and Tiger Woods during a career spanning nearly 50 years, said it was a simple decision for him.
“I wanted to finish my career working for Jim Furyk,” Fluff told PGA Tour.com.
Fittingly, they are reuniting at the PGA Tour Champions Dick’s Sporting Goods Open at Enjoie Golf Club in Endicott, N.Y., the former home of the B.C. Open, a PGA Tour stop from 1971-2006.
HAMILTON, Ontario – Not all heroes wear capes, but some wear bibs.
That was the glib tweet on the RBC Canadian Open social media on Sunday.
It was a reference to fan Paul Emerson, who was watching the third hole of the final round at Hamilton Golf & Country Club when veteran caddie Mike “Fluff” Cowan took a spill on the wet grass going down a hill.
Cowan, 76, is beloved for his fluffy moustache and long run as a caddie for the likes of Tiger Woods, Peter Jacobsen and Jim Furyk for the past 25 years. Cowan joined C.T. Pan this season as Furyk dealt with injuries. But when Cowan went down on Sunday, Pan helped him to get medical attention while Shane Lowry picked up his own bag and his caddie grabbed Pan’s temporarily.
— RBC Canadian Open (@RBCCanadianOpen) June 2, 2024
That’s when Emerson offered to lend a hand and donned a bib for two holes as Pan’s relief caddie.
“I helped Fluff get the bib off, threw it on and started walking up the hole,” Emerson told PGA Tour.com.
Pan made a birdie and a bogey during Emerson’s two-hole gig before he was replaced by Mike Campbell, who works in caddie services at the club. He took over until the turn when Al Riddell, Paul Barjon’s caddie, became Pan’s fourth caddie of the round.
Pan shot 1-under 69 and finished T-35 for the week.
🚨 C.T. Pan’s caddie, the legend Mike “Fluff” Cowan slipped coming down the hill on the 3rd hole and was unable to continue caddying. A random fan was asked to carry his clubs the rest of the day. 😲
“Sometimes the right thing to do is staring you right in the face and you’ve got to have the guts to do it.”
McKINNEY, Texas – For the last 25 years, Jim Furyk and Mike “Fluff” Cowan have gone together like Forrest Gump and a box of chocolates. But all good things must come to an end. Fluff has a new steady bag, working at this week’s CJ Cup Byron Nelson for C.T. Pan.
“It’s hard to part ways after 25 years,” Cowan said. “Sometimes the right thing to do is staring you right in the face and you’ve got to have the guts to do it.”
But to hear Fluff tell it, Furyk had to threaten to fire him — “Don’t make me do it because I will,” he joked — before Fluff would officially end what has been one of the game’s endearing partnerships of more than two decades dating to the 1999 Masters. It might be one of the few cases where a player and caddie truly split amicably.
C.T. Pan and Mike “Fluff” Cowan on the seventh the at the CJ CUP (Adam Schupak/Golfweek)
“Love the guy,” Furyk wrote in a text while fishing with his father in South Carolina. “I’m still struggling with injuries and I pushed him to work for C.T. full time.”
The reason was a simple case of economics. Furyk, who has been dealing with injuries that sidelined him for much of last season, is 53 and has been able to make only limited starts on PGA Tour Champions.
“We play for $2 million. They play for $8-, $20-, $25-million,” Furyk said. “I knew it was a good opportunity for him, and C.T. has been playing pretty good (T-3 at the Mexico Open being his best result). (Fluff) was hesitant. Because he’s a great person at heart. But I pushed and we both knew it was best for him and his family.”
Fluff hooked up with Pan earlier this season in Hawaii and this week marks their ninth event together. Pan has banked $674,187 so far this season. Fluff worked for Furyk at two senior events, most recently at the Galleri Classic in late March. Furyk has earned $19,464 this season and hasn’t finished better than T-33.
Furyk, who had a friend from his junior golf days in Pennsylvania on his bag at the Invited Celebrity Classic two weeks ago in Dallas, said he expects to play next week at the Regions Tradition in Birmingham, Alabama, a Champions tour major. Who is going to caddie for him? His son, Tanner, a sophomore lacrosse player at Sewanee, is scheduled to work for his old man at 3-4 upcoming tournaments.
On Wednesday, Fluff and his trademark fluffy, walrus mustache were as popular as ever. Fans, calling him “Mr. Fluff,” asked for his autograph and he obliged. At the tee of the sixth hole, a short par 4, Pan pulled a fairway wood and Fluff told him that there was an argument to be made for hitting the big stick but he loved the play for him. After the shot, a member of the Salesmanship Club of Dallas, the host organization that runs the annual Tour stop here, came over and hugged Fluff. It was Matt Weibring, son of D.A. Weibring, who turned pro in 1975 a year before Fluff showed up in a Tour parking lot looking for a bag. The iron man of golf caddies says he’s planning to caddie for at least one more year; that is until his daughter, who is wrapping up her junior year at Clemson University, graduates. “I’ve got one more year of payments,” he said with a sigh. A hole later, during a backup on the par-3 seventh, Pan met a couple of young girls from Momentous Institute, the tournament’s main charity. Pan introduced Angela, 10, to Fluff and said if she could guess how old he was he’d sign a glove to her.
“Sixty-seven,” she said with a smile.
“You’re sweet,” said Fluff, whispering in her ear the correct age of 76.
“I came out for one summer 47 years ago,” he said. “It’s been a very long summer.”
The endless summer continues, just with a new boss.
