Mike ‘Fluff’ Cowan has revealed that it was not at all difficult working for Tiger Woods during the early stages of his professional career, but admitted that he did have to make one notable change.

There has arguably been no player who has had a bigger impact on the game in their first year as a professional than Woods. He won on the PGA Tour within two months of turning professional, while he became a major champion the following year.

Few will ever forget how Woods won The Masters in 1997. The then 21-year-old finished 12 shots clear of anyone else at Augusta National.

That actually proved to be the only time Woods won a major with Mike Cowan on the bag, with the boy wonder quickly turning his attention to a dramatic swing change.

Mike ‘Fluff’ Cowan reflects on working with Tiger Woods at the start of his professional career

Fluff remained Woods’ caddie until early on in the 1999 season when he was replaced by Steve Williams. Williams went on to have the best seat in the house for 13 major victories.

It was not clear why Cowan and Woods parted ways. But speaking this week on the Vanity Index Podcast, the veteran caddie responded to being asked whether Woods was difficult to work for.

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“I have to kind of disagree with you. He was actually quite easy [to work for], in my opinion anyway. He was easy, he was fun to work for. The one thing I had to do was readjust my yardage books because I needed carries that I’d never needed. But in all, it was a pretty easy job,” he said.

“He had a sound off his irons especially I’d never heard. It was mind-blowing watching him hit in the beginning.”

The best shot Mike Cowan ever saw Tiger Woods hit

There is an argument that Woods’ performance at Augusta National nearly three decades ago was potentially the greatest of his career.

Woods opened up with a 40 on the front nine on Thursday. And yet, he went on to leave the rest of the field behind to make one of the most emphatic statements a golfer has ever made.

Nevertheless, it was actually another tournament that saw the shot from Woods that Cowan would pick out as the best he hit during their time together.

“Oh my. Well, one that sticks in my head, and it was kind of a meaningless shot actually, but I watched Tiger one time in, I believe it was the Australian Open, he hit a four-iron up over this band of trees that most people, myself included, couldn’t hit a sand wedge over,” he said.

“That’s how he could launch it straight up in the air. Again, maybe the greatest shot might be a stretch but it was one that stuck in my head forever. It blew my mind that he could hit a four-iron over this band of trees that was very high.”

Woods put together arguably the most incredible highlight reel of iconic shots imaginable. For some, the chip-in at The Masters in 2005 cannot be topped, while others will point to the approach from the bunker at the Canadian Open five years earlier.

But the fact is that there are so many contenders for the best shot Woods has ever hit, and many will have stories similar to Cowan.