Tiger Woods’ former caddie Mike ‘Fluff’ Cowan has parted ways with PGA Tour legend Jim Furyk after 25 years together.
Cowan, 76, is best known for being on the bag of Woods when he landed his maiden major title with a record-breaking victory at the 1997 Masters.
Woods not only became the youngest player, aged 21, to win The Masters that week, but he also recorded the largest margin of victory at Augusta National of 12 strokes.
Relive Woods’ incredible victory with Cowan at the 1997 Masters:
After being replaced on Woods’ bag by Steve Williams in early 1999, Cowan joined the bag of Furyk at The Masters that season.
Cowan’s relationship with Furyk lasted 25 years before drawing to an official close at last week’s Zurich Classic of New Orleans.
That is one of the longest player-caddie relationships ever seen on the PGA Tour, equalling the same period of time Phil Mickelson spent with Jim ‘Bones’ Mackay.
Furyk, now 53, relied on Cowan for 14 of his 17 titles on the PGA Tour from 1999 through to 2015, with their highlight win being the 2003 US Open.
They also synced up for three wins on the PGA Tour Champions including the 2021 US Senior Open, as well as the 2006 Nedbank Golf Challenge over on the Sunshine Tour.
Furyk ranks third in the all-time PGA Tour career earnings list with $71m in the bank.
But ‘Fluff’ has now decided to join the bag of PGA Tour player CT Pan, who won his sole title at the 2019 RBC Heritage.
“It’s hard to part ways after 25 years,” Cowan told Golfweek.
“Sometimes the right thing to do is staring you right in the face and you’ve got to have the guts to do it.”
While the decision was a tough one, it had Furyk’s blessing, especially with the heavily inflated prize purses on the PGA Tour in 2024.
CT Pan
Furyk wrote in a text to Golfweek:
“We play for $2 million. They play for $8, $20, $25 million.
“I knew it was a good opportunity for him, and C.T. has been playing pretty good. (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.”
Pan, 32, has earned just over $650,000 so far on the PGA Tour season, while Furyk has amassed just shy of $20,000.
It is understood Furyk’s son Tanner will caddie for his father at various stages on the PGA Tour Champions this season.
