Daring From Tee to Green: The Clothes, Not the Shots Remember when people used to make fun of the way pro golfers dressed in the 1970s? The Sansabelt pants? The loud checks and floppy collars? The canary yellow cardigans? What will they be saying about today's pros in 40 years? Or even 10? The new golf fashion movement started with a kind of mocking, if refreshing, throwback mentality, after a decade of muted tones and baggy golf tops. But it has quickly accelerated to new, untried territory, which is saying a lot for a game that started more than 500 years ago. I never thought Al Czervik's wardrobe would someday appear staid. You remember Czervik, who spoke these "Caddyshack" pro shop lines: "This is the worst-looking hat I ever saw. When you buy a hat like this, I bet you get a free bowl of soup. Pause a beat for Al to glance at Judge Smails. Oh, it looks good on you, though. So with the attire inside the ropes getting as irreverent as a Rodney Dangerfield monologue, I wondered if there were anything our notable pros would not wear. With the professional fairways becoming fashion runways, clothing makers pick out all the top players" ensembles - promoting a new color or a shoe-and-belt combination that the companies think they can sell to regular golfers like us. Still, every pro has the right to veto the script. Or do they? "The people at Polo are always asking me to wear button-down shirts with a tie and knickers," said Luke Donald, the No. 1 men's golfer in the world rankings. They want me to wear that at the British Open this year, but I think that is a bit much. They wanted me to wear camouflage at the U.S. Open, but I didn't. I'll only go so far. As he spoke, Donald was wearing a fuchsia sweater. "Yeah, this dazzles a little, but it's tasteful, I think," he said, picking at his sweater. Sometimes it's a game-day decision, as they say, on what I'll wear. I put it on and look in the mirror. Sometimes I walk out the door satisfied, and sometimes I throw it back in the box. Davis Love, who is also sponsored by Ralph Lauren's Polo brand, said he rarely rejected what he was assigned to wear. "Although they haven't tried knickers on me like they have Luke," Love said of the 5-foot-9 Donald. I'm 6-foot-3. Clearly, knickers wouldn't look too good on me. And frankly, I'm not a fan of yellow or pink pants, but if they give them to me - and they do - I wear them. I figure they know better than me. Some players are direct and succinct in their instructions to the clothing makers. Dustin Johnson, for example, when asked if there were anything he would not wear, quietly responded: "Orange." And why won't he wear orange? "I don't like orange," he said. Got it, Dustin. Anything else on the prohibited list - a certain kind of belt, a visor, green shoes? "Anything orange," Johnson said. When this was relayed to Rickie Fowler, whose signature Sunday outfit is head-to-toe orange, Fowler seemed incredulous. "I've got to talk to him about that," he said, walking away. Everybody needs some orange, man. Matt Kuchar said the only thing he would not wear was white pants with a white belt. "I think it's un-American," he said. It's very much a European thing. Love, the American Ryder Cup captain, has already picked out the uniforms his players will wear during the tournament in September. Told of Kuchar's comments, Love replied: "Well, we don't have a white belt at the Ryder Cup, so he's O.K. there. But white pants? Yeah, they'll be some of those. David Toms, who usually dresses conservatively, suggested that perhaps everyone should take Kuchar's advice. "He's playing so well lately, we ought to mimic whatever he's doing," Toms said. Which made me wonder if players were actually superstitious enough to emulate the hot golfers on tour. Would anyone try to steal whatever mojo there might be in an outfit that was witness to a round of 63? "No way," Toms said with a laugh. I saw Rickie Fowler play great wearing nothing but blazing orange. You're still not going to see me in blazing orange. Toms, in fact, said he rejected the occasional wild suggestion from his clothing people. "I just kind of say, "Nah, I don't really look good in that,"//" he said. They keep it in the box. They probably wish I was a little more flamboyant, but I'm old-fashioned. Interestingly, on the women's professional tour, this kind of back-and-forth with apparel makers is less pronounced. Clothing is determined for the top players but not as precisely. The companies have found that they can ship the female golfers a box of clothing and that they will put the various pieces together nicely with their own fashion sense. The companies do not dare trust the men to do that. Getting the right outfit on television for the final round of a women's major championship remains important to marketing. And women's golf fashions have evolved markedly as well. "It's no longer just smaller sizes of what men wear," said Annika Sorenstam, who has her own golf clothing line. But talk to female pros about their golf clothing, and what comes up most often is not what you might think. "For the longest time they wouldn't give us anything with pockets," Paula Creamer said. Men's pants have lots of pockets because golfers need them for tees, ball markers and other things. But for women, they felt the pockets ruined the look of the garment. Thank goodness they've learned that you can hide the pockets and still be stylish. In the end, things are getting more and more daring from tee to green. The ultimate rules sport has few rules for dress any longer. Take someone like Ian Poulter, who started taking chances with his wardrobe a decade ago. On the eve of the first round of last month's United States Open, I asked if there was any proposed clothing that he rejected. Poulter shook his head. Plain pink shoes? "Done that," he said. Candy red shoes? "Many times," he said. Neon yellow shoes? "I'm wearing those tomorrow," he answered. They matched his sweater and belt buckle.