Stars, stripes, and kilts: The wildest looks at the Ryder Cup

Jack Storti, Pat Smallwood, Sean Boudreau, Nick Sampson, Andrew Heaney, Patrick Noonan, Anthony Michael Lacopucci I, and Mark Pandolfo are from Reading, Massachusetts. They said some of them are childhood friends and some met coaching hockey, but all are big golf fans.

Ben, Cisco, Sean, John, Andy, and Andrew will be at the Ryder Cup all weekend, and so will their outfits. The look was Andrew's idea, who said he wanted to "combine a golf theme with the original war we won against Europe," and noted that the 27 on their tops referenced America's 27 Ryder Cup wins. They got the hats from Etsy.

Martin and Ian only bought their tickets from Edinburgh to New York two weeks ago, when their friend scored them tickets. They wore the kilts in part to honor Robert MacIntyre, a Scottish golfer on the European team.

Michael, Andrew, and Patrick told Business Insider that their friend — who was taking a work call at the time of the photo — had the idea for the colonial outfits. They all got on board with the idea pretty quickly, but said they didn't have much choice, given that their friend bought the Ryder Cup tickets.

The three of them aren't usually flamboyant dressers. Patrick said his typical Friday outfit at his office is, ironically, a golf polo and shorts or pants.

"Do we throw them out and let the memory exist, or do we keep them?" Patrick said as the group debated whether to keep the outfits or chuck them out, maybe even on the ride back to the city.

Liam, Joe, and Sean O'Connor blamed their last group member, who was out getting them drinks, for the outfits. They said wearing full suits on what felt like a summer day was challenging, but worth it.

The trio wasn't a particularly unique sight — many men wore similar sets, often with the jacket slung over their shoulders by midday.

Though American flags far outnumbered European Union ones, Pete and Emma were among those bravely wearing blue and yellow.

Few that Business Insider saw took their costumes as seriously as Corey Frederick, Anthony "Goose" Skody, Scott Hodges, and David Shrimpton, dressed as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt, and Abe Lincoln, respectively.

The group of high school and college friends from Florida said they bought their outfits from Amazon and aren't sure the clothing will make it through the weekend. They're only going to the Ryder Cup on Friday, but are spending the rest of their time golfing and exploring New York.

Though they were still in their full get-ups and sitting in the sun at 3:30 pm, Frederick wasn't thrilled about his colonial-era layers.

"It is unfathomably hot," he said.