Mike “Fluff” Cowan is back on the bag – but not with the player you’d expect.
Cowan, who is celebrating his 77th birthday on Friday, tells Golfweek he’s set to work at the Chubb Classic on the PGA Tour Champions next week at Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Florida.
Cowan began caddying on the PGA Tour in 1976 but he was sidelined last season and underwent surgery in August on his left hip. He vowed to return.
“I feel like I can now,” he said. “I can’t wait to find out. I’m looking forward to a week of work and just seeing where I stand.”
Fluff has been on the bag for Jim Furyk for more than 25 years except for a short stint with C.T. Pan last season. But Furyk, who was named a vice captain for the U.S. Ryder Cup team last week, is still working his way back to competition. “Working hard,” Furyk texted. “Starting to hopefully see some good results.”
In his absence, Fluff is scheduled to fill in this week on the bag of Billy Andrade, a three-time winner on the Champions Tour. Golfweek wrote about Andrade and his caddie Mark “Ziggy” Zyons, who have been a team for the last 27 years. Their partnership began at the 1997 Phoenix Open. Zyons is dealing with an injury of his own. Andrade, who is competing at the Trophy Hassan II in Morocco this week, has friend Chris Quinn filling in this week, and said he hopes Ziggy will be back in March. Likewise, Cowan hopes that Furyk will be able to give it a go soon so they can put the band back together. For now, Cowan is grateful for the opportunity to start another season — his 50th — doing what he loves to do.
“Billy’s willing to take a chance that I can go so I’m going to go,” Cowan said. “I’ve got that going for me.” Which is nice.
Fluff also has worked for Peter Jacobsen and Tiger Woods during a career spanning nearly 50 years during which he became arguably the best-known caddie in the history of golf and as famous and recognizable with his fluffy moustache as some of the players.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Fluff is back from hip surgery and filling in for a Champions veteran
