Tiger and Stevie. Phil and Bones. Jack and Angelo. The history of golf is littered with iconic player-caddie duos, but few rival the 25-year run of Jim Furyk and Mike “Fluff” Cowan.

Fluff, now 76, served as Furyk’s sherpa throughout his best years as a pro, including his 2003 U.S. Open, 2010 Tour Championship and 2021 U.S. Senior Open victories. When Furyk transitioned to the Champions Tour in 2020, Fluff followed. The same can be said this week at the Presidents Cup, where a familiar moustache has been spotted riding shotgun with the Team USA Captain at Royal Montreal Golf Club.

Fluff is at the Presidents Cup!

The 76-year-old is Captain Furyk’s right-hand man this week. pic.twitter.com/RbGjDjSMD9

— PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) September 25, 2024

Furyk and Fluff amicably parted ways back in May but reunited a month later. Fluff underwent hip surgery soon after, sidelining for him for much of the summer, but it’s great to see him back in Furyk’s employ this week. Like all good caddies, Fluff is on-site with the sole purpose of supporting his pro, and you can bet he will offer his advice on everything from Saturday’s four-ball pairings to the post-round poutine as the week rolls on.

Fluff appreciation post.

Publication d'appréciation pour Fluff.#PresidentsCup pic.twitter.com/ttmj4BFx04

— Presidents Cup (@PresidentsCup) September 25, 2024

Of course, some Golf Digest staffers [*cough* Alex Myers *cough*] remain sceptical about the impact of a good looper, but with veteran caddies like Ted Scott and now Fluff in the U.S. corner, there’s no doubt the Stars and Stripes will have the advantage on the course and in the cart.

Main Image: Jared C. Tilton

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Hold on, let us explain.

On Wednesday, about 26 miles northeast of Le Golf National, U.S. Olympian Russell Robinson will compete in the triple jump, vying for a podium position against the best track & field athletes on the globe. But as The Caddie Network’s Steve Catlin reports, Robinson isn’t simply competing for track glory. A medal for him would be shared with his father, Reynolds Robinson, a veteran Korn Ferry and PGA Tour caddie currently looping for Tyler Duncan.

Reynolds Robinson (left) with former player Joseph Bramlett at the 2021 Honda Classic – Jared C. Tilton

Jared C. Tilton

As Catlin writes, Robinson first began looping as a professional 18 years ago after leaving his job as an accountant for Price Waterhouse Cooper. When his son Russell was only five, he relocated his family to Florida to pursue a life on the bag. The move paid off.

Not only did Reynolds enjoy sustained success on the Korn Ferry Tour, tasting victory with Joseph Bramlett in 2020, but Russell’s elite athletic skills—forged in the youth sports cauldron that is South Florida—began to shine. Russell became a standout junior football player while competing in track & field for “fitness.” That side hustle became the main event when he was recruited by the University of Miami for track, punching his ticket to the Paris games at the Olympic track & field trials in Eugene, Oregon earlier this summer.

According to Catlin, the same week of the trials, Reynolds was caddying for Duncan at the Rocket Mortage Classic in Detroit. They would miss the cut, but that cloud came with a heck of a silver lining for Reynolds.

“Well, there is one good thing that comes from us missing the cut,” Reynolds reportedly said to Duncan on their final hole of the week. “I get to go to Oregon and watch my son jump on Sunday.”

Reynolds Robinson with his son Russell Robinson at the 2024 Olympic Track & Field Trials

Despite missing the cut, Reynolds told his son he couldn’t make it, saying he had to stay and prepare for the John Deere Classic the following week. But that was just a ruse. The Robinson patriarch flew halfway across the country to surprise his son at the finals in Eugene that Sunday. Spurred on by his dad’s presence, Russell finished second, clinching his place in Paris.

Russell Robinson (left) poses with his silver medal following the men’s triple jump final at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Track & Field Trials – Christian Petersen

Russell Robinson poses with his silver medal following the men’s triple jump final at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Track & Field Trials

The whole Robinson family, including Reynolds, his wife Erica and daughter Elisha, will be in attendance at the Stade de France on Wednesday to watch Russell try to make his Olympic dream a reality.

Reynolds will have to miss the Wyndham Championship for the occasion, but if his son brings home a medal, we doubt anyone—least of all his boss, who knows what it means to compete as a professional athlete—will mind.

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Tommy Fleetwood was among the wave of players to go low Thursday morning at the Renaissance Club, turning in a five-under 65 during the first round of the Genesis Scottish Open. But the news was not that Fleetwood went low, but with who.

Fleetwood’s longtime caddy Ian Finnis returned inside the ropes for the first time following his recovery from open-heart surgery. Finnis and Fleetwood have been friends since their teenage years, and have been working together since 2016. Until this spring, Fleetwood could only recall Finnis missing one event—the 2018 BMW International Open, for the birth of Finnis’ eldest son.

However, Finnis missed the Valero Texas Open, the Masters and the RBC Heritage with a rumoured heart infection. In late April, Finnis announced he was undergoing a procedure to fix the issue.

“It was great to have Fino back and lovely way to start a tournament,” Fleetwood said Thursday. “It feels nice to have had a really good round in his first week, for him more than anything. It’s been great. Felt so normal. We did a great job. Everything sort of flowed, really, today. He made a couple of great decisions, so it’s not like he’s been away.”

Fleetwood himself has been doing some loop work, carrying the bag for his stepson Oscar Craig on the Challenge Tour. Fleetwood said the experience has proved beneficial for his own game. “Well, I definitely felt like because I wasn’t hitting the shot, I have no feelings towards any golf shot. So when you’re caddying, you see what is the right golf shot probably or you give your opinion or you see things very clear for what they are,” Fleetwood explained. “Because it’s not like I’m worried about hitting it left, right, long, short, whatever it is, so you say whatever it is. I did enjoy that part. I think the way I spoke to Oscar, I would love to speak to myself like that a lot more often, and yeah, I kind of realized sort of how hard caddying can be at times but I don’t really want to tell people.”

Finnis, who lives in England, was able to rejoin his partner ahead of next week’s Open Championship, where the duo contended last year at Royal Liverpool.

Main Image: Andrew Redington

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Diamond has been looping professionally for McIlroy since 2017, although the relationship between the two goes back to childhood, and Diamond served as best man at McIlroy’s wedding in 2018. The duo has enjoyed success in their partnership, with McIlroy often crediting Diamond for creating a comfortable working environment.

However, some have pointed to Diamond and his perceived deference to McIlroy as one of the reasons why McIlroy hasn’t added to his major total since 2014, with the question being raised if Diamond is possibly holding McIlroy back from his full potential. Those calls were amplified in recent weeks after the U.S. Open, with instructor Hank Haney and NBC Sports analyst Smylie Kaufman among those laying blame for McIlroy’s heartbreak at Diamond’s feet. “I felt like (caddie) Harry Diamond really should have stepped in on the 15th hole. He did not have the right club in his hands,” Kaufman said in a podcast. “And I felt like Rory could have taken control of the championship on 15 if he just hits it in the middle of the green. And he hit a good shot. But it just was the wrong club. And never, never was a 7-iron for Rory, especially with a right flag. If the wind was down off the right, it’s not exactly a flag and a wind condition and the heat to be able to land it in a hula hoop, where you got to hit this kind of soft, spinny, fade 7-iron. It was an 8-iron all day, hit it in the middle of the green.

“I would say that was a huge, huge mistake. I don’t really ever see Harry stepping in a ton. Rory always, if he has a question, he’ll ask, but for the most part, Rory kind of goes and does his thing and he’s got a lot of feel.” Haney, for his part, said an experienced caddie like Stevie Williams wouldn’t let McIlroy make some of the mistakes he makes, citing the 15th as an example of a “bad decision.”

McIlroy, making his first appearance since Pinehurst at this week’s Genesis Scottish Open, defended Diamond, calling the criticism “unfair” and hitting back at some of the critics.

“Hank Haney has never been in that position,” McIlroy said on Wednesday from Scotland. “Smylie has been in that position once, and I love Smylie, and he was out there with us on 18.

“But just because Harry is not as vocal or loud with his words as other caddies, it doesn’t mean that he doesn’t say anything and that he doesn’t do anything. I just wish that, you know, these guys that criticize when things don’t go my way, they never say anything good when things do go my way.”McIlroy said Diamond never gets any credit, citing his three wins in 2024, his Ryder Cup success or the Race to Dubai or FedEx Cup titles. “They are never there to say Harry did such a great job when I win, but they are always there to criticize when we don’t win.”

“At the end of the day, they are not there,” McIlroy continued. “They are not in the arena. They are not the ones hitting the shots and making the decisions. Someone said to me once, you would never—if you would never take advice from these people, you would never take their criticisms, either. Certainly wouldn’t go to Hank Haney for advice. I love Smylie, but I think I know what I’m doing, and so does Harry.”McIlroy, 35, is the defending champ at the Scottish Open. He tees off on Thursday at 3.28 a.m. ET with Viktor Hovland and Robert MacIntyre.

Main Image: Sean M. Haffey

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Murray’s caddy, Jay Green, will be on the bag for a different golfer and on an entirely different tour this week after getting the job at the last minute thanks to a confluence of events. Jason Gore, who serves as the PGA Tour’s Chief Player Officer, got into the field at the American Family Insurance Championship as a sponsor’s exemption on Monday after Scott Verplank withdrew. Gore had just met Green earlier that day at Murray’s funeral service in Raleigh, and reached out.

“I texted him and I was like, ‘How much clothes did you bring?’ And he was like, ‘For what?'” Gore says in the below Instagram video shared by the tour.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by PGA TOUR Champions (@pgatourchampions)

“And I’m like, ‘Do you want to caddy in the Champions Tour event this week?’ And he goes, ‘For who?’ And I said, ‘For me, dummy.'”

“I was like, ‘Yes, that’s exactly what I needed,” Green said. “So, just looking for some normalcy, get back to work. And I think it’s exactly what Grayson would want.”

Jason Gore met Jay Green, Grayson Murray’s caddie, on Monday at Murray's memorial service at Muirfield Village.

As a way of offering a "return to normalcy", Gore invited Green to caddie for him in his upcoming Champions Tour debut.

Green accepted and said, “That’s exactly what… pic.twitter.com/6A7YTaIRbY

— PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) June 6, 2024

Murray withdrew late in his second round of the Charles Schwab Challenge on May 25. The following day, the PGA Tour announced Murray, who battled alcohol addiction and depression for years had died at 30. His parents later issued a statement revealing their son “took his own life.”

Murray—and Green—were scheduled to have been at the Memorial Tournament, one of the PGA Tour’s signature events, this week. But while nothing can heal the hole left by his boss’ death, Green is glad to be back working again at the American Family Insurance Championship.

“Inside the ropes is my happy place,” Green added. “So to be back doing what I love, caddying, it feels amazing to be back out here and he’s been awesome.”

The post Grayson Murray’s caddy gets unexpected gig this week: ‘That’s exactly what I needed’ appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Needing a fill-in looper for the event, Pan convinced his wife, Michelle, to step in for the week. It just might take even more convincing the next time. Check out this interview Pan did with CBS’ Amanda Balionis during a weather delay on Saturday. In a clip captured by Golfweek’s Bill Speros, Pan says his success at the Wyndham “was a coincidence,” that “she doesn’t help me much,” and, referring to a familiar caddie saying, that “she just needs to show up, keep up, and shut up, I guess.” Ouch.

RELATED: Inside the drama of the PGA Tour’s most merciless event

To be fair, Pan said all this stuff with a smile, and he later pointed out Michelle helped him with the mental side of his game. Anyway, check out the clip:

Guessing CT Pan will be apologizing for a while today. @WyndhamChamp pic.twitter.com/jcbYCiITpY

— Bill Speros (@billsperos) August 18, 2018

Pan also seemed to really enjoy his extra time with Michelle during the week, which he prefaced by joking on Twitter that the tournament would be “the true test of my marriage.”

Guess who is on my bag this week? This is the true test of my marriage; hopefully, she will still be with me by the end of tournament. @wyndhamchamp #pgatour #golf #liveunderpar #therealboss #teamPan #golfishard pic.twitter.com/h3YCe3xceD

— C.T. Pan (@ctpangolf) August 14, 2018

And he was quick to help carry his heavy staff bag on numerous occasions.

Streeter Lecka

Icon Sportswire

Kevin C. Cox

What a gentleman.

After the partnership proved successful to the tune of a $528,000 payday (No word on Michelle’s cut), Pan tweeted this on Sunday night:

Thank you everyone (fans, volunteers and staffs) @wyndhamchamp and congrats to Brandt Snedeker for the W. Had an unbelievable experience here with my wife on the bag. #pgatour #liveunderpar #golf #caddygirls #appreciationpost pic.twitter.com/6UaFjXeI3S

— C.T. Pan (@ctpangolf) August 20, 2018

Aww. And here’s proof that Michelle is still smiling after a long week as well:

Jared C. Tilton

That’s nice to see.

The post PGA Tour pro says his wife didn’t “help me much” during her caddying debut, is lucky to still be married appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Luckily, Masters.com coverage of Amen Corner picked it up, though, and while we aren’t allowed to show you that video, we have transcribed the conversation that lasted about 90 seconds (Yes, that’s a bit long to take on a shot, but Shh… It’s the final round of THE MASTERS!) before Spieth hit a spectacular shot to set up an eagle attempt from about eight feet. Here’s the back-and-forth between player and caddie that led to one of the tournament’s most memorable moments:

GRELLER: You got, 211, 230, adjusted.

SPIETH: It’s a 4-iron, right? Stock 4-iron? What’s it to fly (inaudible)? I could hit hybrid as well and play a fade. What’s the wind doing?

[divider] [/divider]

[divider] [/divider]

GRELLER: East-Northeast off the right. . . . I like the hybrid more than that.

SPIETH: It’s 230 hole?

GRELLER: Yeah.

SPIETH: How do you feel?

GRELLER: I see it fits the the shape of the hole better, it gives you more margin or room. You know? I feel like a 4-iron is perfect. But if it gets right at all. . .

SPIETH: The lie’s OK, I kind of have to hit it a groove low.

GRELLER: OK.

SPIETH: But I still like this. If I hit it long left, it’s still not bad, you know?

GRELLER: No, I agree. What’s your start line?

SPIETH: I’m at the middle of the green bunker. You said it’s off the right a little?

GRELLER: Yeah, I just don’t feel much right here.

SPIETH: Yeah, I know. But it’s not off the left. It’s no wind.

GRELLER: Correct, yeah. Look at your target.

It’s a good thing Spieth took the extra club as his shot barely cleared Rae’s creek before bounding up by the hole. Spieth wasn’t able to convert the eagle chance, but the tap-in birdie was part of his spectacular final-round 64 that nearly produced one of golf’s all-time greatest comebacks. And the scene was yet another reminder of why Spieth and Greller are one of the best — and most entertaining — tandems on tour.

[divider] [/divider]

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“I never wanted it to turn into a toxic relationship where he’s taken me from where I am as a 12-year-old kid to where I am today, and I’m not talking to him anymore,” Day said Wednesday in explaining why he has replaced Colin Swatton, his swing coach and his only caddy since he turned professional, on his bag starting at this week’s BMW Championship.

“I was worried if I kept it going, it was going to head that way, and I love him too much to have him not in my life because of how special he is to me.”

While Swatton will remain Day’s swing coach, his departure from his star pupil’s bag might be the most surprising in a year that hadn’t already seen Phil Mickelson and Rory McIlroy split with their longtime sidekicks.

Swatton has been more than just Day’s instructor and caddie. He was the golf instructor at the Kooralbyn International School in Queensland, Australia, when Day, then 12, arrived shortly after his father’s death. In essence, Swatton has been a surrogate father to the 2015 PGA champion and former World No. 1.

As far back as 2012, Day had been contemplating making a switch, but after going winless this year and falling to No. 9 in the world, the 29-year-old Aussie felt that he could wait no longer, and he made the switch last week. He has brought in a friend from home, Luke Reardon, who was his roommate at the Hills International College in Australia.

“He came over [and] my buddy Andy got him a job roofing. Now he’s on the bag for me in the third FedEx playoff event,” said Day, who plans to employ another friend, former Web.com Tour player David Lutterus, in two weeks at the Presidents Cup at Liberty National.

Swatton, Day said, was stunned by the decision. Day, wanting to finish the year strong, figured he finally had to pull the trigger after marinating about a change in his mind for so long. Just to extend his season, he will have to perform well here at Conway Farms Golf Club to reach the Tour Championship. He enters the week 28th in the FedEx Cup points standings; the top 30 advance to the season finale at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.

Good thing Day knows the course. Two years ago he blitzed it with a 61-63 opening on the way to a 22-under 262 total and six-stroke victory. It was his fifth win of 2015 and elevated Day to No. 1 for the first time.

“Obviously, this is a very hard time for both of us,” said Day, whose last win was the 2016 Players. “It’s hard because we’ve been a team for so long. Like I said, he was an amazing caddie, amazing coach, amazing person.

“He’s done pretty much everything he can to get me where I’m going. He’s a father figure for me ever since I was a kid, and I wanted to make sure that it’s still there.”

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On Sunday in the final round of the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, the CBS cameras captured a great moment between Hoffman and his caddy, Brett Waldman, which gave a bit of insight into how the veteran tour pro feels about his run of close calls this year. Standing 282 yards out on the “monster” par-5 16th at Firestone’s South course, and three shots off the lead, Waldman tried to tell Hoffman to lay up. Charley was having NONE of that.

“I’m trying to win a golf tournament!”

Charley Hoffman ignores his caddie’s advice and takes on the green at the 667 yard 16th hole. pic.twitter.com/j5LjMVL8F9

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) August 6, 2017

“I’m three back with three to play, I mean, I’m trying to win a golf tournament,” Hoffman says, adding, “I’m tired of finishing in second.”

Not only did Hoffman call off his caddie, but then he pulled off the shot, like a boss. Unfortunately, a poor chip and putt led to a disappointing par, and Hoffman wound up finishing six back of winner Hideki Matsuyama. Still though, it’s an awesome conversation between player and caddie we rarely get to see.

Who says Charley Hoffman isn’t entertaining?

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Jim (Bones) Mackay will bring 25 years of expertise as a caddy for Phil Mickelson to a new occupation as an on-course reporter for Golf Channel and NBC. Sources have confirmed that Mackay will sign a multi-year deal, debut at The Open Championship and work the FedEx Cup Playoffs and the Presidents Cup in August and September.

“When Phil and I split up, several people got in touch,” Mackay said Tuesday in explaining how this career change happened in 16 days. “People have been nice enough over the years to say something to me about how they thought [broadcasting] was something maybe I could do at some point in my life. It was always something I’d say thank you to, and personally thought about. When Phil and I split, I got several phone calls, and it became a bigger opportunity, really seriously, the last few weeks.”

In Mackay’s account of his mutual split with Mickelson, announced on June 20, being a broadcaster was not a subject they discussed. Mackay also confirmed he received calls from several golfers about continuing his career as a caddie that in his words were “very intriguing.”

Intriguing also would be a word to describe the decision Tommy Roy, NBC’s lead producer for its golf coverage, made to put Mackay on air. From Roy’s perspective, Mackay brings more than just the caddie perspective to the job. “First of all, he’s a great communicator,” Roy said Wednesday. “That’s the No. 1 attribute you have to have to be in this business as an announcer.” Roy picked that up in years of eavesdropping on conversations between Mickelson and Mackay during NBC broadcasts.

No. 2 is that Bones has been in the arena, as Roy said, “Under the most pressure packed circumstances, and to get through those with the highest highs and some of the lowest lows is an incredible wealth of experience to call on.”

No. 3 is something Roy experienced making Mackay and fellow caddie John Wood part of the Golf Channel and NBC coverage of the 2015 RSM Classic. Coming through that week on Sea Island, and in dinners Roy has shared with Mackay over the years, was Mackay’s understanding of the story lines beyond what he and Mickelson were doing, seeing the bigger picture at tournaments.

“To have that before getting into the TV business is astounding quite honestly,” Roy said. “So he’s got all these attributes that he can put to use and we can put them to use.”

Finally, there is the element of Mackay being a recognizable and well-respected personality in the golf world. “He’s as well known and maybe more known than some of the players and he’s very likeable, too,” Roy said. “There’s a ton of potential here.”

These words are flattering to Mackay.

“The first thing I’ll say is, I obviously have a ton to learn,” Mackay said. “Early on, my only goal is to get comfortable and get better. But for what I could bring is a caddie perspective, I may have something more to say about the dynamic of player and caddie going on out there. But again I have a lot to learn. Right now, it’s just a question of jumping in with both feet and learning as much as I possibly can, as quickly as I can.”

Interestingly, too, with his schedule, there remains the potential for Mackay to do some caddieing while also broadcasting. “I don’t think it rules anything out,” Mackay said. “I’m going to be working 20-odd weeks a year. I think being a caddie is always going to be in my blood, but right now it’s one thing at a time.”

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