Maybe it was Joaquin Niemann winning at Riviera with a goatee, Sahith Theegala sporting a thick black beard during the Phoenix Open, Scottie Scheffler maintaining a seemingly permanent 5-o'clock shadow or or the normally clean-cut Michael Thompson arriving at Kapalua doing his best impression of Happy Gilmore’s unkempt caddie.
All of it got me thinking about golf’s fascinating relationship with facial hair.
It was a fairly ubiquitous trait among the game’s first wave of great champions. Old Tom Morris’ iconic lush white beard would make Boo Weekley proud, and his son Young Tom Morris often rocked mutton chops. Harry Vardon, Willie Park Jr., J.H. Taylor and James Braid were among those with classic mustaches.
But as time went on, the style changed and golf followed. The first safety razor was patented by Gillette in 1904, and being clean-shaven was soon associated with better hygiene. Ben Hogan, Gene Sarazen, Bobby Jones, Walter Hagen, Cary Middlecoff, Byron Nelson, Sam Snead, Peter Thomson, Lee Trevino, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Billy Casper, Arnold Palmer – most of the stars of the early-to-mid 20th century never grew out their facial hair, or at least it was a rarity. The game’s best looked like a modern-day New York Yankees roster.
While the majority opt for the clean-cut look, golfers of the past few decades have been able to craft personas around their facial hair, and the game is better for it.
Golf’s image steered sharply into the camp of minimal facial hair equating to proper etiquette. There is a well-known story of Palmer giving grief to David Duval at St. Andrews during an Open Championship because of his blond whiskers. Palmer likened stubble to keeping your hat on while inside a clubhouse – it just didn’t have a place in a gentleman’s game. Alistair Johnston, his longtime agent, then asked Palmer to turn around to face a wall decorated with photos of past champion golfers of the year, many of whom kept epic facial hair.
For a long time, that was the mentality, even beyond players. It was said that commissioner Deane Beman did not exactly seek out hires with facial hair, and it was best to shave before an interview if you honestly wanted to work for the PGA Tour.
All of this seems absurd now. While the majority opt for the clean-cut look, golfers of the past few decades have been able to craft personas around their facial hair, and the game is better for it.
Would Craig Stadler still be the “Walrus” without his goatee? The comedic leanings of Gary McCord and David Feherty lent themselves to creative follicle patterns. Mike “Fluff” Cowen, Sam Torrance and Corey Pavin didn’t take a backseat to anyone in the mustache department. And, in more recent times, we’ve seen Andres Gonzales look like Hulk Hogan, Andrew “Beef” Johnston look like Abe Lincoln and Johnson Wagner look like he’s about to rob a train with his thick black caterpillar. Graham DeLaet turned into Bigfoot and Victor Dubuisson turned into Guy Fieri.
Would Craig Stadler still be the “Walrus” without his goatee?
Just as interesting have been players known to switch things up over time. Rickie Fowler has been through several styles, Tiger dabbled in goatees of varying effectiveness, Dustin Johnson mercifully abandoned a soul patch for a healthy beard, Erik Van Rooyen developed an old-school mustache and Cameron Smith is liable to try any number of things to go along with his flowing mullet.
It’s a common complaint that we don’t see the game’s best display their personalities enough, but getting to show off some facial hair is a little insight into who they are.
So go ahead and “grow the game” whatever way you see fit, guys.
E-MAIL SEAN
Sean Fairholm
Top: Michael Thompson, Tom Morris and Rickie Fowler overflowing with machismo