Gunslinger On The Prowl: Fowler whangs his iron off the tee on the third hole during the final round of the 147th Open Championship at Carnoustie Golf Club on July 22, 2018 in Carnoustie, Scotland. (Photo by David Cannon/Getty Images)
Rickie Fowler wasn't much in contention on Sunday, overshadowed by a resolute defender of the Claret Jug in Jordan Spieth, who fell apart after an encounter with a gorse bush in Hogan's Alley on Carnoustie's sixth, not to mention a resurgent Tiger Woods who captivated the Scottish crowd and the world by gaining the outright lead before fading to sixth against his playing partner, the new champion Francesco Molinari. Fowler carded a plus-one for the fourth round and waved the 2018 British Open goodbye with an even par.
If the Sand Wedge Won't Do It, Maybe the Pants Can: Fowler blasts out of a sixth-hole bunker during Sunday's final round at Carnoustie. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)
But over the last four days of hard-fought, well-played golf in Scottish (read: high) levels of wind, Fowler's British Open appearance reassured us all that the man remains in hot pursuit of the most-stylish-professional-golfer-on-the-tour title. In fact, let's be bold: Golf's best-dressed title is Fowler's for the taking. Basically, no other golfer on either side of the Atlantic seems to have what we can only call Fowler's sartorial cojones. No matter the venue, no matter the tournament, no other pro out there has as much blazing, gun-slinging, devil-may-care fun with his outfits.
From his flat-brim caps, some of which cover the tops of his ears (a whiff of the skateboarder, that) to his two- and three-toned shoes, Fowler and his risk-loving Cobra-Puma design team are working overtime to bring us the sharply-dressed golf man. If current Open champion Francesco Molinari's muted, classy dark gray Nike shirt brought us a shade of the boardroom on Sunday, against it, Fowler's silhouette was, as it so often is, more that of a Transformer character out on the links, lumbering within his armor of orange.
Perennial Peacock Plays To Carnoustie's Gallery: Fowler coaxes his second shot down toward the third green on Sunday. (Photo by David Cannon/Getty Images)
New to the 2018's Carnoustie crowds, though not to Fowler's legions of American fans, was the gunslinger's long-drop moustache, retained after his removal what we can describe as his recent Captain-Jack-Sparrow/Johnny-Depp goatee. Fowler is nothing if not a revolutionary fashion plate, more of a lighting rod than an icon, but one whose looks tend to have the staying power to become, well, in a way, classics. On Sunday, as Fowler eked out his par for the tournament from a highly unpredictable Carnoustie, he did so in his trademark (outrageous, and outrageously cool) fourth-round colors of orange and white.
Neon In Action On the Links: Fowler plays a shot on the 18th hole during the third round of the 2017 Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill. (Photo by Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)
For those not in the know, Fowler, a California native, attended Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, whose football mascot is Frank "Pistol Pete" Eaton, one of the last of the great cowboys and famous gunslingers of the 1890-to-1930 era. The OSU Cowboys' colors are orange and black. Hence Fowler's traditional fourth-round attire, which he has migrated over the years -- one hesitates to say that Fowler has "toned down" anything -- from the full-on orange, to various orange pieces and accents. He has explained with winning understatement that the orange-wear was "a bit of a bonding thing" when he was playing on the OSU golf squad. Now, Fowler says, "I like to think of it as my own little personal style."
Fowler's Golden Touch: Fowler's tribute-to-Arnie Pumas at the third round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March 2017. The second pair of these shoes were sold for $25,000 at an auction benefiting the Arnold Palmer Foundation. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)
No kidding. Aggressively reviewed for his bold attire at the beginning of his professional career in 2010-2011, if not actually openly ridiculed, Fowler's style, if we can restrict the man's broad palette to a single style, has become an iconic feature of the PGA Tour and beyond, reaching into a far younger demographic than professional golf's fashion brands have hitherto enjoyed. Golf's broadcasters and scribes in Europe and the States have, over the years, learned as Fowler has resolutely taught his master class: Make fun of this at your peril. His fashion wit and bravura took a while to penetrate professional golf's upper rankings. But the sport's bloviators have gotten the point now. Fowler means business, out on the course, and as a clothes horse.
Fowler's fashion homage to Arnold Palmer at last year's invitational was, unexpectedly (as usual) through his shoes, a pair of high-top basketball-style wraparounds that bore shots of Arnie within the rakish Puma stripes. Two pairs were made. The second pair was put up for auction to benefit Arnie's charity, and brought $25,300. That's a man's style at work.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/guymartin/2018/07/22/2018-british-open-mens-fashion-notebook-rickie-fowler-takes-the-best-dressed-pro-title/
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