Fluff In The Driving Seat For Jim Furyk At Presidents Cup

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)