Iconic Tour Players

Tiger's sunday outfit (Red shirt, black slacks)

AK's belt buckles

I LOVED Payne Stewart. I think it goes without saying why he was so iconic. But after reading the book Tracey wrote, I really realized why I liked him so much. One of golf's great men and the game truly misses him. The '99 Open is one of my all-time favorite tournaments I that I can remember. Although Phil is my all-time favorite, it was so great seeing Payne make that putt. In years since I have watched film of that and really appreciate the moment him and Phil shared on the green afterwards where Payne told Phil he was going to be a great father. Not gonna lie, I cried that fateful fall '99 day. I was only 10 years old then and was very emotionally tied to my favorite athletes.

Although Tiger isn't what he used to be, he still is very iconic to me. I was lucky enough to be at the 2008 US Open, and on Sunday night when we were walking out, someone offered us monday tickets for dirt cheap so of course we took them. Got there early that morning and settled in near the ropes by the putting green to watch tiger. After he finished there he walked to the range, coming by me close enough that I could have reached out and tapped his shoulder. I remember this feeling coming over me that is hard to describe. I'm sure some of you guys know kind of what I am talking about. It was just amazement more then anything else I had ever seen, or been up close to. He was such a machine. Laser focus, impeccable rhythm to his stride and didn't waver the slightest bit. Obviously we have all seen it on tv, but when you are that close and see it through your own eyes, it is such a different thing.

i could be wrong but i had heard that payne stewart was quite the a-hole...

Haven't ever heard anything like that. Do remember something along the lines of people thinking he was a bit of a show-off with his clothes and gold-tipped shoes but he just had a colorful personality. Any examples?

I've heard that too.

My votes for iconic players are:

1.) Greg Norman and his super ugly hats.

2.) Gary Player - all black

3.) Justin Leonard - tiny hats that made his googly face look even stranger in profile

4.) Rickie Fowler - clown suit

5.) John Daly - clown pants, no shirt, lighting cigarettes with cigarettes, mullet, longish backswing

6.) Robert Garrigus - tiny putter

7.) Adam Scott - belly putter, smooth swing, sort of walks like a woman

8.) Chi Chi Rodriquez - sword dance, straw fedora, probably gonna talk in your backswing

9.) Steve Elkington - ever changing but always smooth swing, really ugly homemade shirts, probably gonna move or talk in your backswing

10.) Jack - yellow cardigan, grey check pants, blonde hair flowing, knocking a 1-iron stiff, logo that looks more like a yellow pig than a golden bear

Another one of the game's biggest phonies. A complete and utter jerk.

This of Sabbatini at his worst and multiply it by 10. One of the most unpleasant players on tour, but predictably, elevated to a saint after his very tragic death.

Predicatably, like so many of the tour's most unpleasant players, he  "found Jesus" and behaved as if he was the most important person in the game.

If you read between the lines of this article by David Feherty, you might get the picture. Would he have written it had he not died before his time? I think not. Would David Feherty speak ill of the dead? Certainly not, but in this article he sort of had to, to a degree.

http://www.freegolfinfo.com/forums/printable.aspx?m=518119

After reading that, I think it just proves he was well liked. He was  the "class-clown" of the tour and even though he might have been arrogant, which every tour player is to some degree, he just seemed like a goof-ball and as feherty said, lived for the verbal sparring.

Say what you want about the whole finding jesus thing. That happens far too often in any sport anyway so I just dismiss it altogether

I can only guess that you weren't watching a lot of golf when Stewart was at his peak. "verbal sparring" is a euphemism.

He was a fantastic player, had a gorgeous swing. But he never came across as a nice guy. Unless he was winning.

Do you really think that all tour players are arrogant to a degree?

Where have you seen Stricker arrogant, or Tim Clark, or Greg Chalmers, Boo Weekly, K.J. Choi, Mark Wilson, Luke Donald or dozens like them?

There is a particular photograph of Payne Stewart which is perhaps one of the most iconic images in golf.

It doesn't change the fact that he came across as a thoroughly unpleasant character.

History has a way of rewriting itself after people die. You will find that many of the tributes to Payne Stewart are conected with te way he dressed.

Anyway - I don't want to make a big deal over it (even though I perhaps may have already). It's just that too often legends grow around people which may not be fair representations of reality.

But...he really was a wonderful player.

I just meant like they all have to be at least a little to be on tour. Some show it more then others, some don't show it at all (like Stricks).

I actually just talked to my dad and asked his opinion, just asked him out of the blue, what the tour players thought of Payne, and he said they all loved him. He said he thinks Payne was a little bit like you said early on in his career but got better as he aged, did not connect it to the whole jesus thing.

Idk, like I said in my original post, I was young during his prime. The biggest reason I became a fan was because my grandpa loved him and he only liked golfers w class. (He adored Arnie, not Jack since Jack came and took over for Arnie). All I'm saying is I have only ever heard good things and I agree that definitely is a result of him passing.

And to add to this, I actually worked on the golf staff at Kemper Lakes Golf Club where he won the '89 PGA for the past two summers. (I know it seems far-fetched haha). But everyone that I have ever talked to there that was involved with that event said he was a truly great champion. They just dedicated an entire room to him two years ago and they definitely worship him, almost too much if you ask me.

At any rate, thats all the defense I have for him

As much as it pains me, Bubba for his unorthodox swing and looking ridiculous by buttoning up his top shirt button. Tiger used to do this back in the day and I thought he looked like a total stiff.

Amen!

It's a matter of perspective I suppose. Even his fishing buddies didn't always come off as nice people (Wadkins and Crenshaw).

phil mickelson... take your pick of 1. carrying two drivers and 2. missing an easy shot off the tee, only to hit a great shot from the waste area behind three trees and a cadillac(not meant as a compliment).

Don't forget carrying no drivers. :-P

I'm not putting him in as most iconic, but the first person that came to mind for me was Jim Furyk for his loopy swing.  Similarly, Chi Chi Rodriguez for his swing, personality, and sword-fighting moves on the green.

Personally, I've always found Fred Couples and Ernie Els iconic for their swing tempos.  Whenever I find myself struggling, I try to emulate the swings of these two players.

They don't call Arnold Palmer The King for nothing. From the head bobbing,cork screw follow-thru to the pidgeon-toed putting stance, and from the pants hitching to the Dean Martin like cigarette flicking, no one made more lasting impressions than Arnie.