McKINNEY, Texas – It’s the end of an era.
Mike “Fluff” Cowan confirmed to Golf Channel that he and Jim Furyk are no longer working together following an amicable split, which was first reported by Golfweek.com.
According to Cowan the decision to end one of the longest running player-caddie relationships in golf was Furyk’s.
“He’d been telling me for two months that I should go [work for C.T. Pan]. If C.T. wanted me full time and I thought I could do it then go do it,” Cowan said. “I [pushed back on the idea] in the beginning. The first time we talked about it I said, ‘Jim, I ain’t going anywhere.’”
The tipping point came early last month during the PGA Tour Champions event in Rancho Mirage, California.
“It was after the Saturday round he [jokingly] said, ‘You’re either going to leave or I’m going to fire you.’ He basically said it’s time to go,” said Cowan, who added that he’d happily return to Furyk’s bag if he was needed. “Twenty-five years is hard to part with but he’s injured and doesn’t know how much or when he’s going to play so that’s how it all came about.”
Cowan, who has also worked with the likes of Tiger Woods and Peter Jacobsen in his storied caddie career, first teamed with Furyk at the 1999 Masters and the two enjoyed plenty of success together.
Asked the highlights of his time with Furyk, Cowan said winning the 2010 FedExCup and not one but two sub-60 rounds on the PGA Tour stood out, but the best moment was at the 2003 U.S. Open at Olympia Fields for Furyk’s only major victory.
“I’d have a hard time saying anything other than the U.S. Open we won [was the highlight],” Cowan said.