Every other year the best players from Europe and the United States of America go head to head in one of the most exciting golfing events on the calendar, the Ryder Cup. The Ryder Cup is synonymous with tradition, passion and most importantly excitement. In 2018 Le Golf National in France will play host to this spectacular event. Without a doubt, the golf is the main attraction, but there is also a lot of emphasis on the team uniforms worn by the respective teams. In general, spectators are used to seeing their favorite players wearing the same brand week in and week out. Rickie Fowler, for instance, is renowned for his final day orange outfit, but at the Ryder Cup that won’t be the case.

Merchandise sales at the Ryder Cup is a massive revenue stream and spectators can’t wait to get their hands on the latest Ryder Cup gear. At past, Ryder Cups merchandise from different brands with the Ryder Cup logo on was available to purchase. The official uniforms as worn by the teams haven’t been available for purchase up until now. European golf clothing giant, Galvin Green, the official supplier to the 2018 European Ryder Cup team, has released a number of replica items that are available to the public. For the first time in history, fans will be able to get their hands on exactly the same outfits as worn by the players. To some, it might not seem like a big deal but golf nerds around the world won’t be able to resist adding one of these items to their collection. As expected Galvin Green didn’t release the entire European Team wardrobe for all to see, only a few select items have been released. The navy and blue color scheme used in the design of these garments represent the host nation with pride. During the Ryder Cup the fashion police are normally very vocal about team outfits, let’s take a closer look these early releases to get a glimpse of what Team Europe will look like at Le Golf National. Come September we will be able to see who wore it better, Team Europe? or the fans?

The Albatross and The Forward

The Albatross and the Forward jackets are named after the championship course and the 1st hole of the championship course at Le Golf National respectively. Both of these jackets feature the same design, the only difference is The Forward has short sleeves. The Albatross and The Forward jackets are full zip Gore-Tex jackets and these two jackets will be the official weatherwear for Team Europe. Both jackets feature a C-KNIT back with super stretch Gore-Tex material around the shoulders and elbows to ensure maximum flexibility. Galvin Green are well known for the high-quality rain gear designs and both of these jackets will do the Galvin Green brand proud.

The Crowd and The Verdict

If you are looking for a high-quality jacket to keep the cold away then the full and half zip insula jackets named The Crowd and The Verdict will be a perfect choice. European summers can be on the cool side and these jackets might be a popular choice at Le Golf National come to the Ryder Cup. The full zip is nicknamed The Crowd and the half zip is nicknamed The Verdict, these jackets were named after the 18th and 17th holes respectively at Le Golf National. The design of the jacket features a high performing multi-layer concept that will even warm up the likes of the “Iceman,” Henrik Stenson.

Up Wind

The Up Wind, named after the par 5 ninth hole at Le Golf National is making its rookie appearance at the 2018 Ryder Cup. The Up Wind is an interface jacket that is made from a 100% polyester stretch fabric with a breathable membrane. The Up Wind is both totally windproof and water repelling making it the perfect accessory to have in the bag for any cold and wet day out on the links.

The Judges

No outfit is complete without a high-quality pair of bottoms. The Judges, named after the 15th hole at Le Golf National is a high quality Gore-Tex with C-KNIT pair of rain trousers that will keep you warm and dry even in the harshest of weather conditions. The Judges is a garment that is designed out of only the most advanced fabrics on the market, it features water-repellent zippers, a stretch panel and an elasticized waist for comfort. Not only is The Judges packed with technology, it also features the Ryder Cup logo on the left knee to ensure that these pants are the ‘coolest’ rain pants that money can buy.

The Ryder Cup Team Europe replica team wear is set to be a hot commodity, not only does the garments all tell a story, but they are also designed by one of the leaders in the golf clothing business. Galvin Green is especially known for their high quality waterproof gear and this is a chance to get your hands on some of the best and stylish rain gear out there. Unfortunately gearing up in the same kit as Team Europe won’t come cheap, but purchasing any of these quality products will be worth the investment in the long run. These initial releases are bound to be a crowd favorite, and if these items are a sign of things to come then Team Europe will be hard to beat in the fashion match-up. The replica Team Europe team wear is currently available online for purchase from the official European 2018 Ryder Cup Shop.

This past weekend at the Quicken Loans National, Tiger Woods showed a glimpse of his old golfing self. In fact, he almost looked better than he once did at times, hitting shots and making drives that helped him tie for fourth place at four-under-par.

Held at the TPC Potomac Golf Course at Avenel Farm in Maryland, the National was almost like a coming out party for Woods. He didn’t seem to be hampered by any of the problems that he had experienced in the past. There were no injuries to try and ignore, like his back throbbing every time he tried to move. He also didn’t appear to have any issues with his swing as well. In fact, it looked as fluid and powerful as ever.

Basically, he was confident in his abilities and almost had his old swagger back, which showed in his play. In the four rounds over the weekend, he brilliantly scored in the 60’s for three of them and even in the round where he did score outside of the 60’s, it wasn’t that bad since he ended up with a 70 right on the head in the first round. His overall total was a 269, just ten strokes worse than overall winner Francesco Molinari.

Despite his strong outing, there were a few moments where he didn’t look like he was completely back. For example, he had problems putting throughout the tournament, missing puts that would have resulted in scoring birdies rather than pars, even bogeys. One of those was on hole 14 on the last day when he lipped a shot that cost him the chance to gain a stroke on the leaders.

Overall though, his performance at the National was much better than a majority of his other tournaments over the last few years. Even with his improved performance, there is still one big question that still is on everyone’s minds. That question is, will Tiger ever be able to be the top ranked golfer that he was such a long time ago now.

Most fans who love Woods say yes, most definitely he’ll be able to bounce back and again, be the Tiger of old. The problem with that thinking is there is just not a lot of evidence that supports that argument. For instance, has yet to win an individual pro tourney title almost five years because the last time he walked away with a title was back Aug. 4, 2013, when he won the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational. On that day, he shot 15 under par and he has yet to shoot anywhere near that as of late, shooting 15 under par.

Yet the second reason why Tiger is never going to be what he once was is his body. Sure, it’s working pretty decently right now, yet history has shown that it breaks down when he plays more and more tournaments back to back. This leads to him not being able to get in enough practice time, which in turns leads him to not being competitive.

And, then a final reason why Tiger is not going to be the competitive golfer he once was

Is how his game is extremely inconsistent. History has shown that if you want to be a top golfer, a player needs to be able to do everything well, not just hitting quality drives, not just hitting decent fairway shots, but everything. A good player needs to put, chip, drive, and hit well all the time and right now, Woods isn’t doing that.

In the end, it would be good for golf if Woods can return to being the player that he once was. People like watching him and a lot of people are rooting for him to make the Ryder Cup team. If he can step up his game even more and overcome the obstacles preventing him from being the player he was before, it will be a win-win for him and for golf.