Extraordinary scenes at the Hamilton Golf and Country Club as a random fan got a chance to get inside the ropes. Mike ‘Fluff’ Cowan, who was caddying for C.T. Pan at the RBC Canadian Open, took a tumble while coming downhill on the par-4 3rd. Cowan, 76, was unable to complete the round. 

In the aftermath, a spectator was asked to caddie for the PGA Tour Pro. Paul Emerson from Aurora, Ontario, took up the duties initially. The Canadian later recounted the incident, saying that Fluff had a ‘big tumble’. Pan was helping the veteran while his playing mate, Shane Lowry’s caddie, picked up Pan’s bag. Emerson offered to help and carried his bag for a brief period of time.

Adam Stanley of Sportsnet later reported that Fluff was doing just fine. Stanley further reported that Al Ridell, who caddies for Paul Barjon, was roped in. Ridell has known Pan since his PGA Tour Canada days. Reportedly, Pan’s wife, Ying Chun Lin, was also ready to loop if need be. 

Mike Cowan, one of the most revered bagmen on the Tour, has looped for Tiger Woods, Fred Couples, and Peter Jacobsen. Arguably, the veteran’s most famous stint came with Jim Furyk, a 17-time winner on the PGA Tour. Furyk, in the most remarkable moment of their careers, waited for the veteran looper to share the walk to the green after winning the 2003 U.S. Open. 

Furyk’s PGA Tour Champions campaign has been derailed by injury this year. The 54-year-old insisted Cowan caddie for a younger pro with more fuel left on his tanker. Subsequently, C.T. Pan and Fluff Cowan started working together at the 2024 Sony Open in Hawaii. 

It’s a rare situation, but it certainly has precedence in history. Bizarrely, one of those happened at the RBC Canadian Open nine years ago. Robert Allenby, the Australian professional golfer notorious for his on-course antics, fired his caddie mid-round after a heated altercation, offering a spectator to caddie for him.

Relooking at moments when fans caddied for a PGA Tour Pro

Allenby’s disagreement with Mick Middlemo reached a boiling point after he carded a triple-bogey using an 8-iron. Allenby wanted to go with a 7-iron. After both fired shots at each other, Middlemo apparently had enough.

Allenby later revealed that his caddie walked off on the 18th—he started from the back nine—which another caddie disputed later. Nevertheless, Tom Fraser, a spectator, after watching the entire fiasco, offered to loop for Allenby. The four-time PGA Tour winner agreed after talking to a rules official. 

Of course, in a totally different and strangely wholesome scenario, Sergio Garcia allowed one of his super fans to loop for him. Mark Johnson tweeted at Garcia for 206 days straight in 2017. He almost gave up the pursuit when the former Masters champion replied. Johnson was on the bag for Garcia at the 2017 British Masters Pro-Am. The Spaniard, however, missed the cut. 

It remains to be seen how well the fan-caddie moment works out for C.T. Pan. Many on the Internet, however, wondered what was waiting for the fan. The course is wet after a drizzle, and Pan has 15 holes left to play. But Al Ridell saved him from the ordeal eventually.