Q&A With Mike 'Fluff' Cowan, On 4-plus Decades As A PGA Tour Caddie

Michael Thomas “Fluff” Cowan, who recently turned 69, has caddied on the PGA Tour for more than 40 years. He has looped for Ed Sabo (1976-78), Peter Jacobsen (1978-96), Tiger Woods (1996-99) and, for the past 18 seasons, Jim Furyk. Of Cowan, who has been on the bag for 14 of Furyk’s 17 Tour victories, the 2018 Ryder Cup captain says, “He really enjoys what he does. … He's the same guy whether I'm shooting 80 or 60. For me, he's got a slow cadence. When he talks, he kind of labors through his sentences, and it slows me down.” During the recent AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Cowan discussed his improbably long career with Morning Read founder and publisher Alex Miceli.

Miceli: Why do you think that you've had that longevity on guys' bags?

Cowan: I've been lucky that the guys I've worked for don't necessarily equate bad times with me. They basically know that I'm doing the same job whether we're winning or missing cuts. So they're not looking to fire me just to change a face, to change luck or change whatever. 

AM: A lot of times when somebody does a job for 40 years, they kind of get tired of it. They just don't have the same level of excitement to go out on a daily basis. Do you feel like you still do?

MC: What I'm doing is not like a normal job. I mean, it's different every day. Different golf courses, and even if you're on the same golf course, the golf course isn't the same every day. So I still enjoy the heck out of what I do. … This is the same job, but it's not the same day after day after day. It's always different. 

AM: How much harder is it now than when you first started?

MC: I feel pretty beat up every day when it's over. If you saw me at night, you would bet all the money you could get your hands on that I wouldn't go caddie the next day. But I wake up the next day and come do it.

AM: You played a lot of golf in your career. Is there still a bucket list of places that you haven't played that you want to play?

MC: The two that come to my mind right away: Pine Valley and Seminole. 

Published Feb 1, 2017ALEX MICELI

Alex Miceli, a journalist and radio/TV personality who has been involved in golf for 26 years, was the founder of Morning Read and eventually sold it to Buffalo Groupe. He continues to contribute writing, podcasts and videos to SI.com. In 1993, Miceli founded Golf.com, which he sold in 1999 to Quokka Sports. One year later, he founded Golf Press Association, an independent golf news service that provides golf content to news agencies, newspapers, magazines and websites. He served as the GPA’s publisher and chief executive officer. Since launching GPA, Miceli has written for numerous newspapers, magazines and websites. He started GolfWire in 2000, selling it nine years later to Turnstile Publishing Co.

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