Mike “Fluff” Cowan had surgery on his left hip on Tuesday and is recovering at home, using a walker to get around the house for now.
“I ignored it and tried to work my way through it but it was time,” he said of the surgery.
Eventually, it became clear that he had to go under the knife. Fluff, 76, ended a 25-year run as caddie for Jim Furyk in May and joined C.T. Pan on the PGA Tour but it was a short-lived arrangement.
“To summarize it,” Fluff said, “it didn’t work out.”
Forutnately, Furyk hadn’t hired a permanent replacement and had been relying on his son, Tanner, who was ready to enjoy his own summer adventures before returning to college. Fluff reunited with Furyk in late June at the Dick’s Open on PGA Tour Champions.
Fluff’s hip already was bothering him and he suffered through the U.S. Senior Open but only lasted one day at the Kaulig Companies Championship in Akron, Ohio.
“He was hobbling and in a lot of pain and he went home,” Furyk said. “He had to bite the bullet and it was inevitable that he had to get it done.”
On June 2, at the RBC Canadian Open, Fluff’s final event on the bag for Pan, he slipped on the wet grass during the fourth round and cut his hand and was replaced first by a fan and then by another caddie. At first, Fluff thought the hip injury was unrelated to the fall but now he’s not so sure.
“In my head I don’t think it did,” he said, “but I have no way of knowing.”
Ricky Winn, a longtime caddie who has bumped around between bags and is friendly with Fluff, has been filling in on Furyk’s bag.
Fluff also has worked for Peter Jacobsen and Tiger Woods during a career spanning nearly 50 years during which he became as famous and recognizable with his fluffy moustache as some of the players.
Fluff has a follow up appointment scheduled for Sept. 11. His goal is to be mobile enough to be Furyk’s cart driver at the Presidents Cup in Montreal, Sept. 27-29.
“Who knows? It’s a process and it’s just begun,” said Fluff when asked when he might be back by Furyk’s side. “I’m hoping to be able to work the Furyk & Friends event in October (4-6).”
Furyk has battled his own myriad of injuries, which has limited him to 11 starts on the Champions Tour this season. Hopefully, they can both get healthy enough for another successful run that has already included the 2003 U.S. Open, a 58 and a 59 and nearly 20 victories between the two tours.
“I’m still working for Jim but I can’t work,” Fluff said. “I hope I have another year or two in me.”