Fashion Insider: Hoffman shows you can win with unique style

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Charley Hoffman was rocking green slacks, green shades and a green golf glove en route to winning at TPC Boston.

Deutsche Bank Championship winner Charley Hoffman is one of those interesting case studies from whom we all could take a lesson in how to personalize our on-course look, though Hoffman tends to go to greater lengths than most.

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"I guess golfers tend to sort of all look alike, and I try to stand out a little bit for my sponsors and myself to sort of showcase my personality," said Hoffman when asked about his "look" following his final-round 62 that won him the title at TPC Boston.

Saturday mornings at the home club just do not see many green gloves (a salute to Waste Management, a long-time Hoffman sponsor), green trousers, green accented Oakleys, or custom green gator FJ Icons and a belt to match.

That said, we could all take a queue from Hoffman, who shows us that there are a myriad of options with which one can convey personality.

When asked if he thought others might grow their hair out now that he's won, Hoffman responded, "Well, the way Rickie Fowler and I have been playing, maybe they will. Rickie has obviously had a great year, and his hair is long. I guess I do it just to stand out a little bit in the crowd."

Remember, as the T-shirt reminds us, "Don't Hassle The Hoff(man)."

Saturday marked the start of the NCAA college football season, and select Team Nike players showed their support wearing the colors and logo of their respective alma maters, including Tiger Woods (Stanford), Paul Casey (Arizona State University), and Justin Leonard (University of Texas).

On a related note, Fowler's traditional Sunday orange is his weekly homage to Oklahoma State. Going head-to-toe in orange conjures up images of giant traffic cones, great pumpkins, and bio engineered carrots for some, but Fowler's look is a definite hit with younger fans.

"My style is definitely different," Fowler said last week. "There's not many guys out here that wear bright colors and match their shoes and belts to their clothes, which are not black and white. (Ian) Poulter is one of the other guys, Camilo (Villegas) wears a little bit, but yeah, I definitely see some kids running around tournaments a lot more Puma clothing running around and a lot more orange on Sundays.

"I feel like I'm having a bit of an influence, which is great. I would love to be a role model for young kids, and you know, try and be the best one that I can be. We'll try and get some more crazy colors out there and get them to have some fun." Candy stripers anyone?

The Man In The Black Hat might not ever wear an orange hat -- or trousers for that matter -- but he's all for growing the game. If it takes a vibrant injection of color from a guy who was just named to the U.S. Ryder Cup team, so be it.

It's been a long time since Tiger Woods gave anyone much to talk about in regard to his on course style. Since turning professional we've seen him in nothing but Nike (of course), and while he's somewhat removed from the giant polo in which he won the 1997 Masters, sizing remains somewhat of an issue. The last few weeks have however, has introduced us to a new element in Tiger's wardrobe -- the de rigueur white belt.

Perhaps somewhat behind the curve on the trend, Tiger wearing a white belt tells us a couple of things -- first, that the white belt as the fashion statement du jour now has a much longer shelf life, and second, that Tiger might view the white belt as one of those if-I-look-good-I-play-good kind of accessories.

When asked last week if there was anything we should look into in regard to his recent use of the white belt, Tiger replied, "No, I wore it at the U.S. Open for the first time this year. I actually played pretty good that day."

And then, when reminded that he once said that he'd never wear one, "This is true."

So, is the white belt is more slump-buster than fashion statement? Time will tell, but for now, it's a welcome change of pace.

The Man in the Black Hat is a freelance columnist for PGATOUR.COM. His views do not necessarily represent the views of the PGA TOUR.