OLYMPIA FIELDS, Ill. – Mike “Fluff” Cowan was in the spotlight again yesterday, but this time the bright lights didn’t burn him out or cost him his job.

Cowan, the former caddie for Tiger Woods who became a cult figure of sorts, now loops for Jim Furyk – after yesterday, that’s U.S. Open champion Jim Furyk.

Once Furyk hit his second shot into the 18th with a four-shot lead, he conceded that he “lost it emotionally.”

“We both got a little emotional after he hit his second shot on 18,” Cowan said. “I was putting the divot back into the ground and was a little behind him, but he waited for me and said, ‘Come on. Let’s enjoy this together.’ ”

Said Furyk: “I told him on the 18th green, ‘We’ve got to do this again sometime; that was awesome.’ ”

Cowan, who was on Woods’ bag for the 1997 Masters victory, basked in many awesome moments with his former high-profile boss, but he said yesterday being a part of the “National Open” win matches anything he’s done. While with Woods, though, Cowan soaked in too much of the spotlight and that ended up bothering Woods, who fired him in 1999.

“He told me he didn’t want me anymore,” Cowan recalled. “Why is something that no one seems to know . . . no one except for one person. I didn’t push [for an answer] and [Woods] didn’t explain it. I just figured, it’s not the first time I’ve been fired and it probably won’t be the last.”

Furyk hired Cowan in 1999. “He needed a caddie and I needed a player,” Cowan said.

“I really prefer the normal caddie life, where you can come and go as you please without [fanfare],” Cowan said. “But part of it [his celebrity] was my own fault, doing commercials and things like that. My 15 minutes of fame was way too long. I’m just happy doing what I’m doing. I have no regrets.”