Hey, good lookin': Being a best-dressed golfer can't hurt your game

As I always say, if you look good, you play good. Or play better, at least. That being said, I'm waiting for that theory to work for me, but in general, it's not a bad rule.

So of course, being the golf fashion junkie I am, I always have my feelers up when new lines and brands are unveiled. This week in particular, I was excited to see that adidas Golf is putting out a women's line of its popular, formerly gents-only adiPURE series, a less sporty and more classy collection than its traditional lines. The adiPURE sweaters, peg pants and fitted polos are as much for off the course as on, and given that I typically wear my nice work dress pants to play golf in, that fits me pretty well.

It also got me thinking about golf fashion as a whole. I'm a firm believer that few could design a better golf clothing line than I could. I've yet to find the perfect combination of class, fabric, patterns, fit and variety that I'm really happy with or that could appeal to both the fashion-forward female golfer and the classy woman (many have come close, however). Heck, I even have a vision for the fellas, too. Perhaps one day I will have my own line of golf apparel but if not, as part of my own golf empire I will build after becoming independently wealthy from golf writing (ha!).

But I digress.

I was sort of inspired to write this after the display that Mr. Fashion Plate Rickie Fowler put on at the Memorial, specifically on Sunday (although the mint green on Saturday was also noteworthy). Because while I'm all for color, there was a legitimate weird glare -- a glow, even -- on my LCD TV that his orange jumpsuit was causing. It was affecting the contrast. My eyes were bothered.

He obviously wears orange thanks to Oklahoma State affiliations; he's been doing it since he was accepted to the school. I like orange, it makes me look tan. But how much orange is too orange? An orange shirt and white pants would have been sharp. Throw some orange shoes in there for fun. But if people are likening your outfit to a prison inmate jumpsuit, traffic cone (mine) or, my personal favorite, a Creamsicle, maybe it's time to re-evaluate.

So to prove that I'm not all that picky, and do admire the fashion sense of more than one modern-day player, I've put together a little list of sorts. I stress "modern-day" because I'm leaving Payne Stewart off my list, even though he was second-to-none. And because I'm not the world's biggest fan of loud wardrobes, I left Ian Poulter off. As well as John Daly. Although I completely appreciate what they're doing with their style. I do.

I'm also leaving all of the women off. One too many of them have hit crappy golf shots because they're worried about how short their skirts are and they don't want to show too much while in awkward stances (true story). I can say that because I, too, wear golf skirts. Quite honestly, it's a topic worthy of a whole other rant. Later though.

Here's my top five, in no particular order after No. 1:

1. Fred Couples. Classiest hands down, by far. Love love love the fact that he's not afraid to rock a nice heather-gray v-neck and some wool pants. And the Ecco street shoes he wore that caught everyone's eye? He wore them well. Freddie's a silver fox in my book.

2. Ricky Barnes. It helps that I think he's eye candy no matter what he's wearing. But I was really liking the plaid pants and neutral shirt at the Memorial. Understated, and a nice tribute to the classic touches of the game. Ricky, shoot me an email if you want to hang out sometime. I'm a fun gal.

3. Ryan Moore. OK, I'll admit: When I saw Ryan wearing the cardigan, dress shirt and tie at The Masters, on more than one day, I was a little thrown off. I mean let's be honest, it's not a look that you see every day (or any day, really) on the Tour. Players wear the performance fabrics, the boring slacks, the blah standard polo. But here, here was a young man adding some class to the game. And it clearly worked, because he scored a hole-in-one while wearing it. It's very Jasper-Parnevik-via-J-Lindeberg-circa-1997. Kudos for stepping outside the box a bit, without using gag-worthy colors. And shame on the people who said your outfit wasn't an "ace." You looked good.

4. Adam Scott. I photographed Adam at the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines. He was wearing a fabulous black and white argyle sweater and looked the epitome of style and comfort. He wears a lot of Burberry, a brand that always maintains a classic, yet contemporary look. I'm a massive Burberry fan myself, so we share a kinship there. There's a reason all the ladies love this guy, no lady more important than myself.

5. Camilo Villegas. I don't adore his style, but I appreciate the simplicity. Nice lines, clean fit. Very Euro. And he's on every other best-dressed golfers list, so clearly there's something wrong with me if he's NOT on here.

I could go on and on, but the moral here is that it's not hard to look good while on the course, and it can make you play well to boot. What do you have to lose by looking dapper?