Purple? What were Ryder Cup designers thinking?

‘Red, white and blue are good, reasonable colors. Red and white are pretty straight forward while the “blue” can be toned down a bit and still be blue. Good colors I’ve always thought for designers to work with providing they get the proportions right. Just ask Betsy Ross.

Now at a time when patriotism is a real hot button – we could use it – I am trying to get behind the “team colors” of our U.S. squad, but I’m not having an easy time of it.

Sure, the designs by Peter Millar, Hickey Freeman, Sun Mountain and Belding, even the hats by Imperial, are well sculptured, classic, beautifully made with classy materials like cashmere and cotton. Problem is, the colors.

Let’s see. We have brown, orangey-red, red, white, gray, and several shades of neutral on practice days; purple or lavender, however you see it paired with gray pinstripe trousers and a light shirt on Saturday; and black shirt and trousers with touches of red, white and blue (Yay) – red zipper in the quarter zipper sweater; red, white and blue stripe trim on the shirt placket; and the red, white and blue belt.

So we have gray, black, tans, orangey red, red, white, blue, and ….purple. The shield-logos are red and are sewed onto every sweater and then there is a red American flag on the back collar of the rain suit.

Hang some beads around their neck and they’ll be all set for Mardi Gras. Wear the red hat with the purple sweater and they can join the “Red Hat Society.”

I’m O.K. with the retro styling though I’m not sure Rickie Fowler will dig it. The flared pants? Not so sure. And the shield logos? They evoke the coats of arms on castle walls in Britain and the last I looked, we were trying to beat these guys.

I do like the practice outfit with the red vest and argyle detail, striped shirt and nutmeg pants. Sunday’s black look is also classy.

I like the Belding Bags too, although I would have preferred to see red, white with dark blue rather than black. As for construction, they might have considered a non-traditional slick pod-style — something waterproof, light weight and cool looking.

The problem I’m having is seeing them as a group, as team outfits for three plus days. Good God, they need six hats to coordinate it all.

One thing for sure, when we see the purple sweaters popping up on the Twenty Ten on Saturday – that’s if our players aren’t wearing Sun Mountains’ RainFlex suits – we’ll at least be able to find our guys in the heather. I’d suggest red hats.