Wie Hires Woods’ Ex-Caddie for Event

At 14, Michelle Wie has already drawn comparisons to Tiger Woods, but she may seem even closer to him this week when Woods’ former caddie Mike “Fluff” Cowan carries her bag during an LPGA event in Virginia.

Cowan caddies regularly for U.S. Open champion Jim Furyk but is available because a wrist injury has kept Furyk sidelined since January.

Cowan was hired Saturday by Wie’s father, B.J. Wie, and will work with her when she plays the LPGA’s Michelob Ultra Open at Kingsville in Williamsburg, Va.

“Michelle was so happy to hear the news when I picked her up at school,” B.J. Wie said.

Cowan was Woods’ first caddie when Tiger turned pro in 1996. He was fired by Woods in March 1999, then hooked up with Furyk while Woods turned to Steve Williams, who had been Raymond Floyd’s caddie.

When Wie was fourth in March at the Kraft Nabisco Championship at Mission Hills, her caddie was Bobby Verwey. But he caddies regularly for Gary Player on the Champions Tour and is not available.

Wie is allowed six sponsor’s exemptions to play LPGA tournaments this year and the Kingsmill event will be her third. She tied for 19th in her first in mid-March, the Safeway International near Phoenix. In January, Wie also played in the PGA Tour’s Sony Open in Honolulu, her hometown, where she shot a second-round 68 and missed the cut by one shot.

Last year, Wie played seven LPGA events, including the U.S. Open where she tied for 39th, and missed only one cut.

--Thomas Bonk