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Despite criticism from some circles, Tom Lehman and his Team USA teammates didn't let their, um, unique shirts keep them from staging the greatest comeback in Ryder Cup history in 1999.(Photo: Getty Images)

By Mike Kern, Special to PGA.com

When the immortal Walter Hagen became the United States captain for the inaugural Ryder Cup in 1927, what were the chances he was overly concerned with what his team would be wearing at Worcester (Mass.) Country Club?

Even though he was a flamboyant character who did his best to popularize stylish clothing on the golf course, it probably still wasn't a priority. The concept of uniforms being part of the equation wouldn't take hold until later.

That was then. But times, and styles, evolve.

The Ryder Cup remains mostly about pride. For country and continent. Yet through the years, the biennial competition has also turned into a fashion statement. What once was more of an afterthought is now a not-so-minor detail, one that's mostly left up to the respective captains. And, in many cases, their significant others.

It's not about just teeing it up anymore. Those days are long gone. Players not only have to perform. It's important for them to look and feel good doing so. As America's Paul Azinger and Europe'sNick Faldo certainly can attest, picking the right lineups isn't the only thing on a captain's plate. He has to outfit his guys, and their gals, right down to the proper inseam. It's a process and hardly as simple as it might seem.

There was a time when, on the United States side, that chore was handled primarily by The PGA of America. It's a responsibility that has transitioned to the captain. In 1993, the PGA of America gave Tom Watson three apparel companies to choose from, and two years later, Lanny Wadkins was the first U.S. captain to assume all responsibility for uniforms. And there's no going back. It's become part of the job. An intregal part, in fact. Because now, the entire golf world is paying attention.

As Azinger accurately put it, "It's all on me."

"You're representing your country," said Ben Crenshaw, who played in the Ryder Cup three times and captained once. "It's your duty. You want it to be distinctive. I remember Byron Nelson saying, 'Back then, they gave us a shag bag with the Ryder Cup (logo), and we just thought we'd hung the moon.'"

The right choices can often make all the difference.

"When Tom Watson unveiled his sweater at The Belfry (in 1993), it was a perfect example of that," recalled Joe Steranka, the chief executive officer of The PGA of America. "It was this beautiful (gray) cashmere, and the Ryder Cup logo was just silhouetted on it. It was Tom Watson. And the players just felt like champions when they put that on ...

"We all work together, with a lot of companies, but the captain has the ultimate say. It says a lot about them. And I think they really get into that."

Curtis Strange knows. He was a member of five teams and the captain in 2002, after the event was postponed for a year when the 9/11 attacks took place only a couple of weeks before the Ryder Cup was scheduled to be played in England.

"I couldn't wait to see what was in the (clothing) box when it got to my house," he said. "It was something special, stuff I couldn't afford back then. Every team takes on the personality of the captain. That includes the uniforms, as much as anything else. And everyone's got opinions."

Most American golf fans have come to expect the U.S. Team in some combination of red, white and blue, but the captains are cautious not to overdo Uncle Sam theme day after day.

"You don't want everyone to look like a flag walking up and down the fairway," Strange said. "It can get to be too much. But subtle patriotism is sharp, classy. I assume I did OK because not one (critical) word was written, and we were playing over there. They'll say things. You almost want to say, 'Here's seven khaki pants and six white shirts. Go get 'em.'"

Just as assuredly, the wrong decisions can have the opposite impact.

"I remember being on a team in Europe and it was freezing cold and the pants I was wearing didn't fit right," Azinger recalled. "I wasn't comfortable and the weather only made it worse. I can't tell you how aggravating something like that is. It's my job to make sure this year's team doesn't experience any problem like that.

"Players will get choices of fabrics. A lot goes into it nowadays because there is so much technology in apparel, especially with Dry-Fit materials."

Bernard Langer, who's been a part of the European effort as a player and captain for more than two decades, seconds that emotion.

"When a player doesn't feel happy with the fit, the material or the way he looks, he's not going to perform as well," he said. "I enjoyed that part of the job."

So does Faldo, who's lived through some horror stories during his equally long Ryder Cup tenure that stretches back more than 30 years.

"Back then, we had days with shirts too tight (and) too short," he said. "For some reason, they kept making these sweaters with the sleeves six inches too long, and you'd roll them up so many times that you'd end up with half a sheep at the end of your arm. One year Colin (Montgomerie) and I had to go into the pro shop and the closest (color) we could find was orange, whereas the rest of the (European) team was in red. It's gotten a lot better, though."

Even so, it just doesn't happen. Sam Torrance, the European Captain in 2002, said he had all his schemes ready a year in advance. "You're given a company that supplies everything, and you go with it," he said. "Every day we'd see a group of mannequins in different combinations of color and patterns. It was great fun."

Still, his wife, Suzanne, got to cast the one vote that counted. "She wouldn't allow me to do it," he confessed.

Mark James said he tried to come up with combinations that were "relatively stylish" without being "too outrageous." Other than that, there was only one rule. "If Seve (Ballesteros) was on the team," he said, "we had to have navy blue on the last day. Otherwise, I don't know what would happen; his head would explode or something."

According to Steranka, it isn't simply a matter of choosing colors and fabrics and sending the specs off to your favorite manufacturer. There are a whole list of what-ifs to consider, almost right up to the time the first ball is hit. Particularly now that the U.S. has four captain's picks, not two, and they're not made until early September instead of right after the PGA Championship. Can you say contingency?

"You have to be prepared to address replacement clothing if there's a sudden change in a team member because of injury or anything," Steranka noted. "You have to have real confidence in who you're working with, that they can produce something that will get to us on time. And there's still strict protocol on how the flag is represented, as far as where it can be and what direction it's facing.

"You don't want your captain to have to pick out color swatches for 100 different items. You take his input and give it to a group of professionals. We have people on our staff help coordinate all that.

"As we've become less formal in our business and social attire, golf apparel has now become a bigger part of America's popular culture. So we get more comments about it than we ever have. You want to create a real connection with the fans. A captain always has something in mind. There's a method to the madness. But the focus is always on function. You're looking for comfort and performance. And, because of different affiliations, you're trying to pick things that are produced by companies that are unfamiliar with half the team. But it has to work. Because when you're under the gun to hit the most intense, pressurized shot of his life, you don't want a hitch in your giddyup."

By the same token, no player wants to show up in something that gets everybody's attention for all the wrong reasons.

Famously or infamously, that's what went down in 1999, thanks to Crenshaw and his sense of history.

Or, as Faldo says in his wry sense of humor: "I think the fashion police must have had the day off."

He was far from the only one, from either side of the Atlantic, who felt that way.

On Sunday, Crenshaw sent his team, which was trailing by what looked like an insurmountable margin, out in burgundy shirts that had pictures of all the winning U.S. teams on them. When he won his second Masters in 1995, Crenshaw wore a similar pattern during the final round -- one that also was designed by Jeff Rose. Other than the color, the only difference was that shirt was a photo gallery of Bobby Jones highlights.

"It had been good luck for me, obviously," Crenshaw explained. "We said, 'What the heck, let's try it again.' We had to do that color, because otherwise it wouldn't have shown up. "I think some of the members of the European team said it reminded them of a pizza shirt. Which was understandable."

Of course, that shirt became part of history when the Americans won by staging the greatest rally in the history of the Ryder Cup. So when they replay Justin Leonard's decisive 40-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole at The Country Club a century or two from now, and the controversial celebration that followed, those shirts still will be on display. For better or worse.

At the time, Tom Bevivino was the director of sales and marketing for Roco Inc., then the parent company for the Jeff Rose label.

"It was extremely expensive to make those shirts," he said. "It was a very limited design, it was a rush order and it had to be done in Italy. (Crenshaw) wanted something special. It was his touch. We had to get that certain look just right. I'm still not a fan of it. It wasn't a typical Jeff Rose design. That wasn't work for him, but a piece of art. Having to make something like that probably made him throw up.

"I wasn't there (on Sunday). I left and drove home (to Pittston, Pa.). It was a foregone conclusion it was over."

Or maybe not. This much is certain: The shirts, like the comeback, will be linked as long as they continue to play the Ryder Cup.

"I'll always have a tie to that," Bevivino said. "It's always going to be part of me. A lot of people who do what I do never get the chance. The most famous Ryder Cup Sunday ever and they're wearing our shirts. It's a great feeling and something nobody can ever take away."

Isn't that Crenshaw's line?

"We laugh about it," Strange said. "He wanted to celebrate teams of the past, something that would stick out. Well, it sure did that. But when you're watching on TV, I, like everyone else, said, 'What is that?' Eventually, when they described them and explained them, I went, 'Hey, whatever.'"

Indeed. Perhaps it didn't have to make sense. Or simply was meant to be. Whatever, it's doubtful that anything anyone ever wears in any other Ryder Cup can possibly generate nearly as much conversation.

"I never believed they would cause such a stir, but they did," said Crenshaw, who also leaned heavily on input from his wife, Julie. "I liked it. If you saw it (up close), you got the meaning. It was one of those items you had to inspect. From a distance, I suppose, it was hard to detect.

"The whole day was eerie, the way it played out. I suppose the shirts played into that. I've never seen anything that electric. If it didn't happen, those shirts might have gotten lost in time. The fact that it did happen made them a little more significant."

Or even a lot.

"I just wanted to try something a little different," he said. He certainly succeeded. Wonder what Hagen would have thought.

Mike Kern covers golf for the Philadelphia Daily News. This story appears courtesy of the 37th Ryder Cup Official Journal.