Golfers Ricky Fowler and Jonas Blixt -- both Puma endorsers -- were paired together during the final round of The Barclays PGA Tour event yesterday and amusingly wore almost identical bright orange outfits. The duo even had matching pink golf bags. ESPN's Linda Cohn posited, "What are you going to wear? It’s usually the question posed by one person to another when they know they're going to be seen at the same place. Historically, it's been women who think ahead to ask that all important question. In the case of these two professional golfers, they knew exactly what they were going to wear Sunday in the final round of The Barclays. In fact, they planned it that way." Fowler told the media, "A lot of people didn’t understand that we're actually friends and this might have been planned. So a lot of them were saying, 'Did you call each other last night?' Of course this was planned. He didn't do it to piss me off or something." Blixt added of his orange outfit, "These are Ricky's clothes. That's why my pants are so tight." Cohn added, "Obviously those two wanted to make a fashion statement because their golf scores really didn’t make it on 'SportsCenter,' but that pumpkin-colored attire sure did" ("SportsCenter," ESPN, 8/26). Blixt said that he "tried to get Puma to ship him the same outfit, only it wouldn't have arrived" by their 1:00pm ET tee time (PGATOUR.com, 8/25).
ORANGE YOU GLAD TO SEE ME? CBS' Jim Nantz during yesterday's final round said of Fowler and Blixt standing next to each other, "Can you believe this?" CBS' Nick Faldo replied, "I think it's great. I think they really added some real zest to the day" ("The Barclays," CBS, 8/25). Faldo said of Blixt and Fowler while hitting balls from the practice range, "Both freshly squeezed this morning. Is this going to cause a drama on the first tee?" Fowler told the Golf Channel that once he was fairly certain the two would be paired together, he spoke with Blixt about wearing matching outfits. Fowler: "We had talked about it before and it was just whether or not he was going to man-up and do it today. But we pulled it off and it was actually his idea so I can't take any credit for it." Blixt said, "I just think I look better in orange than him so I just want to prove it today." Golf Channel's Steve Burkowski said, "Jonas in orange, Ricky in orange, certainly a group that will stand out here on Sunday." After their drives on the first tee landed within inches of each other, Faldo said their tee shots went off "like clockwork orange." Golf Channel's Rich Lerner said, "This is like a commercial for Puma right here. You can't make this up" ("The Barclays," Golf Channel, 8/25). Golf Channel's Gary Williams said of Fowler and Blixt on-camera, "Take a good look at this, I mean a really good look. Not because it's attractive, because you will never, ever see it again if you ask Jonas Blixt, because he shot 81 dressing like Rickie Fowler." Williams: "I don't know if he threw (the outfit) in the Hudson, (but) whatever you did just get rid of them. I appreciate the effort, but not a good look" ("Morning Drive," Golf Channel, 8/26).
