32 Most Stylish Golfers Of The 80s

While the 70s might be regarded as the most colourful decade in terms of fashion on the fairways, the 80s certainly had its moments. We enjoyed some of the most remarkable Major victories, with Seve Ballesteros coaxing his ball in at the 18th at St Andrews before Jack Nicklaus rolled back the years at Augusta in 1986.

Many of the game's true mavericks and characters were still plying their trade and looking the part before the decade finally gave way to the 90s where we saw oversized trousers and polos take over. 

Here we celebrate some of the true greats and some of the most iconic outfits in the sport.

LEE TREVINO

Maybe it was the era or perhaps it was the swing but Trevino was another who epitomised cool. The six-time Major winner carried off the high collar and open-neck polo shirt perfectly and his ability to chatter his way through a shot made him a must watch. He would always wear a plaster on his arm to cover a tattoo bearing his ex-wife's name. 

AMY ALCOTT

Style comes in different ways... Alcott won five Majors, three of them in the 80s, but it was her victory at the '88 Dinah Shore that sparked a very special tradition in the women's game. At Mission Hills Alcott and her caddie made the first leap into Poppie's Pond and, by 1994, it had become the norm. 

FRED COUPLES

Some people have all the luck as the 1992 Masters champ managed to twin the good looks with the most languid of swings. If anyone synonymised the billowing Ashworth polo look it was Couples with his constant re-adjusting of his shirt a feature of the day. Interestingly Couples re-signed with the brand at the end of 2022. 

JACK NICKLAUS

When you've won 18 Majors, three of them in the 80s, then you will have played your way into most lists. Nicklaus' victory at the '86 Masters at the ripe old age of 46 lit up the decade and remains as one of THE Major wins of all time. Nicklaus wore yellow on that famous Sunday in memory of a friend who had died years before.  

BEN CRENSHAW

The two-time Masters champ's pleated trousers were generally as sharp as his putting stroke. Rarely was there anything out of place as Crenshaw's side parting and, often, chunky sideburns sat nicely alongside his striped polos and FootJoy Classics. One fun fact about Crenshaw and his magic putting stroke is that he featured in eight play-offs on the PGA Tour and lost all of them.

DAVID FEHERTY

The American was known to wear an all-green ensemble to match his surname or at least an element of it in his clothing. The 1989 Ryder Cupper's language was said to be as colourful as his clothing and his outspoken nature and behaviour meant that Green wasn't one of the more popular players on the PGA Tour.  

GARY PLAYER

Needless to say Player has always been in shape and carried off most outfits. Some of his best efforts from this period involved a trucker-style cap and he was always beautifully turned out. As for his love of black he describes it as this: 'Black is mysterious, sophisticated, strong and elegant. You can wear black at any age. You can wear black for any occasion.'

BETSY KING

From the mid 80s onwards King was a pivotal figure in the women's game and she would go on to win six Majors including one by 11 shots. To give us a flavour of the times back then her agent once pitched her to Reebok, King for $25,000 and the PGA Tour pro for $500,000 and they went for the man with his caddie getting $15,000 to wear the clothes. 

JOHNNY MILLER

Miller was a stand-out figure on Tour for his sweeping blond hair and rapid and very precise swing. Fred Couples once described Miller as being the 'best ball striker ever'. When one thinks of wide collars, plaid trousers, coloured gloves and iron shots being repetitively dumped next to the hole, Miller won't be far from our thoughts. Won two Majors, certainly could have won a lot more.

NANCY LOPEZ

Lopez was women's golf for a period of time and a run of five straight wins, in a nine-victory season, saw her appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Her Major record was a curious one, in among the countless top 10s and four second places at the US Women's Open the Californian won the LPGA Championship three times and all at the same course. 

LARRY MIZE

Mize might not be your first thought here but, when you're the local boy and you've chipped in from 140 feet to win The Masters and beat Greg Norman (and Seve) in a play-off, then you're going to be an iconic image. We all now know Mize's violet Aureus polo shirt and visor combo and the shot gets more ridiculous with every viewing.

GREG NORMAN

The Australian, who only took up the game at 15, must have been an intimidating figure with his all-conquering driving, good looks and rippling physique. Maybe the straw hat was Norman's biggest fashion calling card but he wasn't afraid to try different looks, all of them pristine and some of them 'of the time'/horrific . He would go on to front his own line of clothing. 

SAM TORRANCE

The Scot generally did a very nice line in knitwear and was always immaculately turned out. His whole appearance somehow smacked of someone who had always been steeped in the game, even down to the pencil behind the ear. Torrance was a feature of any Ryder Cup effort in the 80s and his outstretched arms at The Belfry in '85 is an image that is etched on every European fan. 

CHRISTY O'CONNOR JNR

Before the baseball cap took hold there was at least some sort of variety in the headwear, with the visor a mainstay on tour. O'Connor Jnr was synonymous with his Ben Hogan-like cap which he would raise to aplomb from the middle of the 18th fairway at the 1989 Ryder Cup as he sunk Fred Couples with his 2-iron. 

JERRY PATE

The 1976 US Open champion was one of the Tour's poster boys and he provided one of the iconic moments in 1982. In the first playing of The Players at Sawgrass Pate, playing an orange ball, shot a 67 to win by two. His celebrations included pushing the commissioner Deane Beaman and designer Pete Dye into the lake by the 18th before joining them.

CALVIN PEETE

Search the archives and Peete would always look immaculate, helped by his penchant for the Hogan cap. The American's back story is remarkable; he was one of 18 children, started playing golf at 23 and led the Driving Accuracy stats throughout the 80s due to a left arm that never healed and would never straighten after falling out of a tree as a child.

NICK PRICE

We don't associate the 80s too much with the Zimbabwean but he very nearly captured The Open at Troon in '82 when he had a putt to tie Tom Watson. Then he looked very different to the more familiar image that we have of Price, with more of a look of a moustached Robert Redford than the polished appearance that we are used to. 

SCOTT SIMPSON

Some players just have the look of a certain period in time and Simpson says a lot of how golf looked in the late 80s. The perennial visor, open-necked polo and bold, blocky colourways were a staple of Simpson and hundreds of other PGA Tour pros. His big moment came in '87 when he sneaked past Tom Watson to win his national Open. 

HAL SUTTON

'Siri, show me an archetypal American golfer...' The 1983 PGA champ spent the 80s with barely a hair out of place with his pleated trousers housing an always tucked-in shirt. Sutton was touted as the 'next Nicklaus' due to his early success and similar looks but he almost had to wait until 2000 for is defining moment when he won The Players.... 'be the right club, today.'

TOM WATSON

You would likely associate Watson's look as stylish rather than cool. The Kansas City superstar's look was always improved by the effortless power and grace that he possessed and, bizarrely, his final Major triumph came at The Open in 1983. In more recent times he's been an ambassador for Polo Ralph Lauren, a look which very nearly claimed a sixth Claret Jug in 2008 at the age of 59.

ARNOLD PALMER

The King would have looked good in the proverbial bin bag. A photo of him and Ben Hogan, looking sensational (and smoking cigarettes) is one of the most shared pics in the game. These days the winner of his event at Bay Hill is slipped into a red cardigan, woven from the finest Peruvian alpaca wool, in a nice nod to the great man.

PAUL WAY

If anyone reflected the mid 80s in the UK, it was Way. The three-time winner had the wedge haircut, Farah trousers, stylish knitwear and waggle that any self-respecting golf-mad teenager would want to copy. If golf wanted to position itself as 'cool' in these times, then we could all look to the two-time Ryder Cupper. 

JAN STEPHENSON

The Australian was the poster girl of the ladies' game as she combined her Major-winning skills with her good looks to market herself and the sport. Her most iconic photoshoot was posing in a bathtub of golf balls while there were also pin-up calendars. If ever a golfer from the 80s was made for social media it was Stephenson who was inducted into the World Hall of Fame in 2019.

MAC O’GRADY 

Anything went really with O'Grady, be it his swing which could be performed both right and left-handed, his outfits, his teaching methods or his behaviour. The stories of the American are legendary; one cracker is that he once tried to enter a foursomes tournament on his own, saying that he would play alternative shots right and left-handed. 

JUMBO OZAKI

Masashi 'Jumbo' Ozaki won a phenomenal 94 times on his home tour in Japan. The Hall of Famer is said to be to Japanese golf what Arnold Palmer is to the game in America. He would always draw the crowds for his big hitting and colourful outfits and he was also partial to collecting classic cars and vintage wines, as well as musical instruments.

CHI-CHI RODRIGUEZ

The Puerto Rican remains one of the most colourful players in the game, so much so that Original Penguin recently brought out a retro range in Rodriguez's name. The flamboyant star's on-course antics were as colourful as his clobber – back in the day he would place his Fedora over the hole when he'd made a birdie before moving on to his signature toreador dance with his putter.

KEN GREEN

The American was known to wear an all-green ensemble to match his surname or at least an element of it in his clothing. The 1989 Ryder Cupper's language was said to be as colourful as his clothing and his outspoken nature and behaviour meant that Green wasn't one of the more popular players on the PGA Tour.  

SIR NICK FALDO

Nobody has done more for the Pringle brand than Sir Nick Faldo as he began to dominate the game in the back half of the 80s. The Englishman's Geometric George polos and knitwear were a staple of many a winner's speech and Faldo would slip into his Muirfield '87 sweater as he signed off at St Andrews in 2015.

RODGER DAVIS

We might never see the like again as the likeable Australian would complement his plus-four (or is it plus twos?) look by having his name, both Christian and surname, down the length of his socks. He was certainly one of the best dressers on the European Tour and his familiar forward press and lunging swing saw him win 30 times around the world.

BRIAN BARNES

Barnes, the player who beat Jack Nicklaus twice in a day in the Ryder Cup, was a legendary figure. His eccentric shorts, perennial pipe in mouth and stout legs reflected a true maverick and his photos would always light up the back pages. At his final Tour win he famously marked his ball with a can of beer before knocking in the winning putt.

PAYNE STEWART

When Stewart made his way to the PGA Tour in 1982 he quickly realised that 'we all just looked the same'. He liked Rodger Davis' look, went even baggier with the trousers and complemented things with a peaked cap. Years later he would sign a huge deal with the NFL to wear the colours of whatever team was closest to the tournament venue. 

SEVE BALLESTEROS

There might never be a cooler and more stylish golfer. Seve spent much of the 80s in trousers that would look ridiculous elsewhere but he would be able to carry off everything. The blue Slazenger V-neck sweater remains probably the most favoured piece of golfing attire which most of us have tried to imitate for the past four decades.