Rickie vs. Rory, on a whole bunch of random stuff

This post has been updated since when it was originally published on Saturday at the 2014 British Open.

Rory McIlroy and Rickie Fowler are part of an epic dual at the top leader board at the PGA Championship. Did we mention that Phil Mickelson is up there, too? And Henrik Stenson. It's a good thing Jordan Spieth isn't high on the leader board, otherwise teenagers' heads all over the country might actually explode.

Rory and Rickie may be letting their games do the talking, but that doesn't change the fact that these truly are two of golf's most interesting characters. That makes comparing the two, on and off the course, an especially fruitful task.

Success__

__Rory is vying for his fourth major. He's ranked No. 1 in the world, and he's made two Ryder Cup teams. Rickie made one himself, and he's won once on the PGA Tour, but there's no contest here.

EDGE: RORY

Facial Hair__

__It's not been a good few weeks in the facial hair-department for Rickie, who seems to be doing his best impression of Batman's ninja instructor Ra's al Ghul (played here by Liam Neeson). Rory doesn't tinker much with the hair on his face, which is enough to give him the edge on this occasion.

Public Image__

__Rory's may be more valuable -- at least in Nike's eyes -- but his has been bogged down with numerous off-course incidents in the past year. Rickie, by contrast, has maintained and grown his brand despite a lack of relative success on the course.

EDGE: RICKIE

[Related: Rickie's strategy for a Sunday comeback

](http://www.golfdigest.com/blogs/the-loop/2014/07/here-are-the-lessons-rickie-fo.html)

Hat__

__Rickie's flatbrim was so cool that even Rory switched to a new lid. Surely that's enough by itself to give Rickie the edge here.

Commercials__

__Rickie's been in some good ones, but Rory has starred in commercials featuring, among others, English soccer star Wayne Rooney and a trash-talking golf robot. Tough to beat that.

EDGE: RORY

Social Media__

__Rickie has about 1.2 million fewer followers, but tweets more often. Plus, Fowler always posts fun pictures and videos on his Instagram that makes us feel like we're part of the party. But Rory's picture of himself Dufnering last year helped make that joke go viral. This one's too close to call.

EDGE: PUSH

Color Coordination__

__Props to Rory for coordinating some tough colors sometimes. Rickie, though, has become iconic within golf by sticking with the straight Sunday orange.

EDGE: RICKIE

Hair__

__Fowler's got the Justin Bieber thing going, but Rory has some pretty powerful curls. Rickie did this to his hair as a junior golfer in 2006, which was fun, but let's be real: neither of these follicles deserve to lose.