The Green Jacket: Best Dressed in '09

Over the next two weeks, FanHouse will be delivering any and all awards for the 2009 PGA and LPGA Tour season. It will be a collection of anything that needs to be awarded, from Player of the Year, to Best Shot of '09 to Breakthrough Twitterer. It is, simply named, The Green Jacket awards.

Golf fashion isn't what it used to be. Tweed sweaters ... ties ... the Payne Stewart look? Yeah, they've all given way to tighter fitting, large belt-buckling looks that show off the fitness that has become as popular on the PGA Tour as Golf Pride grips. So who is the best dressed golfer in the game? Since I'm not necessarily what you'd call a fashion expert, I turned to my good friend, and golf fashion expert, Patricia Hannigan of The Golf Girl's Diary, to tell me who should be crowned "Best Dressed."

Patricia -- "2009 will be remembered as the year the Full Cleveland returned with a vengeance, and oversized, custom, belt buckles (sometimes encrusted with crystal) became almost ubiquitous. Proof positive, as if we needed proof, that fairway fashion is reinventing itself. After a decade dominated by anonymous, unfitted polo shirts and conservative twill trousers, PGA Tour players are bringing personal style back to golf. There were hits and misses of course, there always are in fashion, but overall the renewed fashion focus was refreshing, exciting and fun. And it gave a burgeoning population of golf bloggers something to blab write about.

But who looked best in '09? Which one of the guys was this year's wardrobe winner? Well, that depends, because fashion is, after all, highly subjective. So, I'll give you my selection, and it probably won't surprise you. Or maybe it will.

My choice is Hanikami Ohji.

If that doesn't sound familiar, I should tell you it means Bashful Prince, and that's what they call Ryo Ishikawa (top right), and although Ryo's not officially a PGA Tour player yet, I'm saying he counts. Because even though he's missed four cuts in six PGA Tour starts this year, fashion-wise his game has been stellar. At barely 5-foot-7 the Japanese 19-year-old is head and shoulders above the rest of the field when it come to comes to his personal style.

Color, cut and artful accessorizing are the main components of the Ryo style. A distinct Asian influence can be seen in the bright, saturated hues that define each outfit he wears. Always artfully blended with a contrasting solid, these powerful color notes are picked up in his visors, belts, shoes and gloves and stand out in a way that's fresh and exciting.

I can honestly say I've never once seen Ryo Ishikawa in an outfit that didn't sparkle. Consistency may not be a hallmark of his golf game yet, but it's certainly there in his fashion sense. I just hope we get to see much more of it in 2010."

So there you have it. Patricia has spoken, and I've realized in the fashion world, when The Golf Girl speaks, we all need to listen.

Honorable Mention -- Tiger Woods, Adam Scott, Ian Poulter, Camilo Villegas and Davis Love III.