A Fashion Recap of the Sentry Tournament of Champions
The first PGA Tour event of 2018 kicked off at Kapalua at the Sentry Tournament of Champions and certainly left plenty to talk about in regards to golf fashion. Here are my Hawaii Five-O sartorial observations.
1. Magnum PI Was Cool & So Is Rickie!
Kilauea is the youngest and most active volcano in Hawaii and has been erupting continuously since the 1980’s (Rickie was born in the 1980’s, hmmm….). Anyhow, like Kilauea, Rickie continues to blow up (traditional golf fashion norms, that is)! The Aloha Woven Shirt from Puma he wore on Thursday had social media abuzz. Some traditionalists hated the untucked button-up, but I loved it, especially for this setting. My only regret is that Rickie didn’t indulge us by pairing a mustache with his Aloha shirt, which would have been a fantastic tribute to Magnum PI!
*Did you know that in 1966 Hawaii adopted “Aloha Friday” where employers would allow men to wear Aloha shirts (aka Hawaiian shirts) on Fridays? This custom slowly migrated to California and by the 1990’s the rest of the country embraced “Casual Friday”.
Shop Rickie’s Aloha Shirt, Ignite PWRADAPT Shoes, and Snapback Hat.
2. Headwear Made a Statement
Speaking of Magnum PI, much like Rickie honoring his grandfather’s Japanese heritage with the Aloha collection, Thomas Magnum honored his hometown Detroit with a Tigers hat. Now stay with me here as I attempt to connect the headwear worn during the Sentry Tournament of Champions; it is about to get really confusing…..
Jonas Blixt may be from Sweden but he also brought out a Detroit (Red Wings) hat and a New York Yankees lid, Jason Dufner kept the New York theme alive and rocked a Notorious BIG hat as well as a few trendy lids from Blueline Surf & Paddle Company (The gang at Blueline are big with PGA Tour pros. I’ve seen their gear on a few different golfers–most notably Rickie). John Rahm switched over to a visor for the entire tournament. And finally, Bryson Dechambeau added a bit of island flair to his Driver Cap.
3. Belts, Belts, Belts
Dustin Johnson and Justin Thomas have some of the best belts in the game (maybe that is the secret to their driving length). Not only are their belts always paired perfectly, they are properly sized, too. Jordan Spieth should take a tip from his buddy Justin Thomas and make sure the fit of his belts are on point (they tend to be too large).
Surprisingly, I really like Brian Harman’s camouflage belt. A nice way to showcase a little bit of his own personality. He wore it all four days and it went with everything. Who knew camo was so versatile….
4. “Book ’em, Danno!”
I know it is early in the PGA Tour season and we are just past the holidays, but I was shocked to see how many Tour winners from last year look so out of shape. And in Hawaii of all places! No matter how well dressed you are, if you embrace the dad bod, you will never look as good as someone who takes care of themselves.
5. Shaka hand gesture goes to….
Shaka is a Hawaiian hand gesture. It has many meanings. Originally, it meant “hang loose”, or to chill and be laid back. However, it can also be used as a positive reinforcement. If somebody did something good, cool, or righteous; you can give them a shaka as a sign of approval or praise.
Congratulations to Rickie Fowler for being named the “Best-Mannered Person of 2017” last week by the National League of Junior Cotillions. I’d like to share one of my favorite pictures; Rickie sans Aloha shirt but with aforementioned mustache AND my son at the 2016 Deutsche Bank Championship. A good guy, indeed….
loved rickies shirt but it needed to be tucked in. I also wonder if Dufners improved play is down to him being back to fighting weight ! Love the weekly article, keep it up.
Thank you, Jason, for reading and commenting. I had the GT stats department run the numbers and their is indeed a direct correlation (inverse relationship to be precise) between Dufner’s weight increasing and his score decreasing. I respectfully disagree with Rickie’s shirt needing to be tucked in. I have never been a fan of the short-sleeved button up shirt being tucked in, and in this case it would have taken away from the traditional “Aloha” look he was going for.
I like the shirt but not sure one could wear this anywhere but Hawaii and not be a professional golfer. I don’t think me telling the club pro “but rickie wore it” would fly here in jersey
every year i look forward to kapalua for a prime time reprieve from the frigid mass temperatures. always fun, as well to see who might’ve changed sponsors and what trends might start to show up on-course in the coming year. Why would Blixt and Duf not sport sponsors hats…are they between sponsors? I wish Leishman would switch to a busy patterned untucked button up. the hardest working belt in golf needs a break.
Blixt switched to J.Lindeberg recently and as far as I know Dufner is no longer with Vineyard Vines but does still have an affiliation with FootJoy (he was definitely wearing FJ slacks). I am also curious why they chose not to wear a sponsor hat but I liked both of them mixing up their headwear! Especially the Blueline Surf & Paddle hats that Duf wore.
Greg informed me that Dufner is wearing Fairway and Greene.
Great write up Mike and keep it coming. Spieth does need to tighten his belt up but I did like him stepping out of his typical setup to put on a navy belt, navy hat with his white pants and orange shirt. Did you notice that Rickie and Leishman both matched their belts to their slacks this week? They always typically defaulted to the white belt. That was a big win