Fluff In The Driving Seat For Jim Furyk At Presidents Cup

Jim Furyk will have long-time caddie Mike 'Fluff' Cowan alongside him at this week's Presidents Cup but in a different role than usual

Jim Furyk and caddie Fluff Cowan
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Paul Higham
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Jim Furyk will have a familiar face by his side at the Presidents Cup with his long-time caddie Mike 'Fluff' Cowan joining him in Montreal.

Cowan has been Furyk's caddie for the last 25 years, barring a brief split earlier this year when the 2003 US Open champion picked up an injury.

The pair reunited though, and now Cowan is swapping carrying the bag for driving the cart as he'll be ferrying the Presidents Cup captain around Royal Montreal Golf Club this week.

The 76-year-old will no doubt also be a sounding board for his long-time friend and  boss as the tournament progresses.

Cowan went to work for CT Pan when Furyk's injury meant he wouldn't be playing enough to offer his bagman regular work.

When they soon joined forces again, it was Cowan who then suffered medical problems and he underwent hip surgery that put his participation in the Presidents Cup in doubt.

Fluff, who has also caddied for Peter Jacobsen and Tiger Woods during a career of almost 50 years, has still not recovered enough following his August surgery to caddie.

He's fit enough to drive a golf cart though and will take up a familiar position right alongside Furyk for the Presidents Cup.

Cowan was on the bag for Furyk's US Open victory, and also when he shot 59 and a 58 and wins on both the PGA Tour and PGA Tour Champions.

He may not offer advice on pairings or teamtalks, but not many have the years of experience Cowan can offer, and his mere presence will provide comfort to Furyk during the stress of leading Team USA.

Furyk is going up against Mike Weir and the International Team with the first of four days of action on Thursday, in a format that differs from the Ryder Cup and Solheim Cup.

The teams will play five fourballs matches on Thursday and five foursomes on Friday before a more familiar weekend schedule that sees a morning session of foursomes and afternoon of fourballs on Saturday followed by 12 singles on Sunday.

Presidents Cup day 1 pairings, matches and tee times:

Match 1: Jason Day vs Byeong Hun An vs Xander Schauffele/Tony Finau: 11.35am ET (4.45pm BST)

Match 2: Sungjae Im/Tom Kim vs Scottie Scheffler/Russell Henley: 11.53am ET (4.53pm BST)

Match 3: Adam Scott/Min Woo Lee vs Collin Morikawa/Sahith Theegala: 12.11pm ET (5.11pm BST)

Match 4: Taylor Pendrith/Christiaan Bezuidenhout vs Wyndham Clark/Keegan Bradley: 12.29pm ET (5.29pm BST)

Match 5: Hideki Matsuyama/Corey Conners vs Patrick Cantlay/Sam Burns: 12.47pm ET (5.47pm BST)

Paul Higham
Paul Higham
Contributor

Paul Higham is a sports journalist with over 20 years of experience in covering most major sporting events for both Sky Sports and BBC Sport. He is currently freelance and covers the golf majors on the BBC Sport website.  Highlights over the years include covering that epic Monday finish in the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor and watching Rory McIlroy produce one of the most dominant Major wins at the 2011 US Open at Congressional. He also writes betting previews and still feels strangely proud of backing Danny Willett when he won the Masters in 2016 - Willett also praised his putting stroke during a media event before the Open at Hoylake. Favourite interviews he's conducted have been with McIlroy, Paul McGinley, Thomas Bjorn, Rickie Fowler and the enigma that is Victor Dubuisson. A big fan of watching any golf from any tour, sadly he spends more time writing about golf than playing these days with two young children, and as a big fair weather golfer claims playing in shorts is worth at least five shots. Being from Liverpool he loves the likes of Hoylake, Birkdale and the stretch of tracks along England's Golf Coast, but would say his favourite courses played are Kingsbarns and Portrush. 

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