Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Passion AND fashion both belong in our sport
HOW pathetic that golf should find itself entangled in a pious dispute about hoodies in the middle of a global pandemic.
How pitiful that the word ‘hoodie’ was trending on Twitter as Tyrrell Hatton marched to BMW PGA Championship glory.
That in the midst of a public health crisis, the golf fraternity was debating Hatton’s choice of clothing at Wentworth.
Some felt the Englishman’s decision to don an Adidas hoodie was an “erosion of standards”. Others saw it as smart and fashionable.
I’m in the latter camp.
Yes, certain traditions are sacrosanct, but some people need to get over themselves.
The debate around Hatton’s dress sense, at a time when golf and other sports are fighting for their financial futures, was absurd.
I thought he looked the part and anyway, who doesn’t think golfing attire needs a bit of a shake-up?
“We don’t want (golf ) to be snobby... you need to move on from that,” argued Hatton.
“If it’s comfortable and it looks good, I don’t see an issue.”
Hoodie hoo-ha aside, the European Tour covered itself in glory last week and it was extra special that a home winner enhanced the emotion of it all.
To see a photo of Tyrrell as a kid at Wentworth and watch him recreate the snapshot with the trophy on Tiktok a couple of decades later proves dreams really can come true.
Hatton, who grew up 25 miles from the course, has moved into the world’s top 10 and is improving year on year.
He has shown he has the ability to get into winning positions and then thrive in that environment.
To win on both sides of the pond in the same year – he won the Arnold Palmer in March prior to lockdown – also puts him in select company.
The fact it was a strong field at Wentworth adds to his victory and it was great to see so many high-profile names tee it up in such challenging times. There’s no doubt the lack of galleries robbed the winner of an extra wave of tension and emotion, but the players will have felt the magnitude of the event.
The course, tourna- ment history and havving your name etched d on those famous Wen- tworth walls will ll have seen to that. Hatton admitted d afterwards he was s ner vous coming g down the stretch, but he held it t together to secure a third Rolex x Series win. He’s a big game e hunter and his Wentworth win also confirmed he’ll be a vital part of Europe’s Ryder Cup team next season.
Perhaps Padraig Harrington should approach him for some advice on the uniform.