Golf has long had a dress code and etiquette that players must adhere to. This has been a way to keep new golfers as well as veterans of the game in line with the traditions of the game. Each course and golf competition has its own rules on dress code.
A week on, however, and we’re still talking about that Tyrrell Hatton hoodie. One golf club even sent a note to its members to explain that hoodies are not acceptable golf attire – before hilariously comparing them to “designer ripped jeans” in a sentence that was definitely written by a man who hasn’t worn anything designer since donning a pair of flares at a Bee Gees gig.
A jet-lagged Hatton, of course, was asked about it when he arrived in Vegas for the CJ Cup hours after his BMW PGA Championship win.
So, was he surprised?
“A little bit,” he said. “Mainly because I’m not the first person to wear a hoodie.”
On tour, he means, with Justin Thomas, Tony Finau and Erik van Rooyen among those to don the extra neckwear.
Hatton added: “It’s crazy the number of people that obviously don’t agree with it. If it looks smart and you’re comfortable to play in it, then I really don’t see what the issue is.
“And it’s funny, I reckon half the guys if they put that hoodie on and swung a golf club, they’d love it. They realise how nice it is and how easy it is to swing in it. It’s not like your standard casual fashion hoodie – they’re the ones that are really soft, very stretchy, so movement is not an issue.”
If the golf doesn’t work out, he’s got a job for life in the Adidas PR department.
Hatton is not the first major golf star to become the news other than for his game. I am sure you can remember commentator Peter Alliss’s sarcastic comments when John Daly turned up in some garish Loudmouth trousers.
Even our own Fenix Ambassador Scott Hend raised a few eyebrows when he teed off in one of the new Fenix XCell camouflage shirts. They went on to be a hot seller.
So, maybe hoodies will become the norm but maybe not over in Asia!
