Hackel's style guide: Out with the old, in with the new

• By Randall Mell
• Jun 13, 2012 3:11 PM ET

SAN FRANCISCO – Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Bubba Watson make up the spotlight grouping for the first and second rounds of the U.S. Open, but if you’re into golf fashion they wouldn’t be the big show.

Not according to Marty Hackel, Golf Digest’s Mr. Style.

“If I wanted to put together how the board of directors at the bank would dress, I might put together Phil and Tiger,” Hackel said. “They’re old guys now, and they’re dressing like older guys.”

Who would Mr. Style’s marquis fashion pairing be?

“I would put together Ian Poulter, Ryo Ishikawa and Luke Donald,” Hackel said. “Those guys are going to look great every day.”

Rory McIlroy also ranks high in Hackel’s fashion ranking.

Hackel did say there’s an intriguing new element to Woods’ ensemble this year, his Nike TW ’13 Shoe, which is now hitting stores for public consumption. Woods will be adding a black pair to his mix this week with the white he’s been wearing.

“That’s the shoe he helped develop at Nike,” Hackel said. “He has worked out in this shoe, called the Nike Free, and he went to Nike and said. ‘I work out in this shoe, I run in this shoe, I do everything in this shoe but play golf. Can’t we design a golf shoe that has all the attributes of this Nike shoe?' And they’ve gone and done that. They’ve made it, and they’ve made it water proof. So now you have this really cool shoe that fits great, and it’s water proof. They’re just in stores this week, and from what I understand, they’re selling like hot cakes.”