(Editor’s Note: This item was originally posted in April 2008 — the early days of styledtoatee.com when traffic was minimal. Now that the Ryder Cup and Paul Azinger’s captain’s choices are the talk of golf, we thought it would be fitting to reprise.)
The U.S. Ryder Cup team captain is charged with a few significant responsibilities. They range from the ceremonial, to the strategic (captain’s selections to fill the roster, naming foursome and four-ball partners) to the inspirational, should a final-day pep talk be needed. There’s little doubting that Paul Azinger is qualified to dispatch the aforementioned.
Also falling within the captain’s purview are decisions related to the team uniforms, what exactly they’ll look like, and what company or companies will supply them.
That being said, here’s a sartorial suggestion for Zinger’s consideration. We have no plans to scream it from the rooftop, but rather float it here in Internet ether. Paul might consider — for one practice round only — dressing the U.S. team in knickers. Yes, plus fours. Should he do this for Wednesday or Thursday, at least, the photographs will almost surely be carried globally (and immediately) on the Internet, and in the world’s printed sporting press the next day.
There are two — possibly three — reasons he might consider this humble suggestion as a source of inspiration. First, as captain of a team with three straight losses to the European side, he realizes he needs to do something truly inspired.
In addition to being a tribute to golf generations past and the Ryder Cup’s sartorial standards, it would be a singular tribute to Azinger’s great friend, Payne Stewart. It’s stating the obvious to say professional golf has missed Stewart, his graceful swing, his good nature, his presence on the leaderboard at majors, his more-than-comfortable-in-the-limelight personality. More thoughtful golf observers, however, might note that were he alive today, Stewart might very well be the captain of this Ryder Cup team, if not the 2006 or even the 2004 team.
He’d be 51 this year. He’d won his PGA Championship, the first of three majors, in 1989 at Kemper Lakes Golf Course, four years before Azinger won his PGA title at Inverness. And though the PGA of America’s criteria for selecting a Ryder Cup captain (and loyalty to selecting past PGA champions) is not what it once was, there is no denying that a PGA Champion is immediately marked as a possible candidate.
And while it’s likely Azinger will turn to Nike, his apparel sponsor, for the majority of shirts, sweaters and outerwear, Nike doesn’t make Tiger’s pants. In terms of meeting an unusual request, Nike Golf could do anything it set its mind to, but should Azinger go this route, he could starthereor here.
Assuming the players aren’t in open revolt, or terribly uncomfortable, he’d then have a sartorial wild card in reserve: the option of having them wear them on one of the weekend days, to further stoke competitive fires. — Robert Lohrer
