Some golf stars’ nicknames are more obvious than others.
For example, LIV Golfer Phil Mickelson is affectionately known as Lefty because he plays left-handed, while another with a self-explanatory nickname is Dustin Johnson, who is often known simply by the initials DJ.
More obscure nicknames include the one belonging to Angel Cabrera, who is known as El Pato, Spanish for The Duck, thanks to his waddling gait.
Another that isn’t immediately obvious is the nickname given to Bryson DeChambeau, The Scientist, who earned it thanks to his meticulous approach to the game and willingness to experiment.
It’s safe to say that another pro, DP World Tour winner Marcus Armitage, has a nickname that falls firmly into the latter category.
He is otherwise known as The Bullet, but there’s nothing immediately obvious as to why that’s the case.
You could be forgiven for thinking it’s due to his driving distances, but ahead of the FedEx Open de France, he was ranked just 139th on the DP World Tour for 2025. With that not the reason, it begs the question: why is the Englishman affectionately known as The Bullet?
Armitage resolved the mystery at the 2020 South African Open, explaining it came about in a roundabout way – and it stems from a particular breed of dog.
He explained: "When I first got on tour, some of my mates, Matt Nixon and a few of them, said: ‘Oh you could do with a nickname,’ and from childhood my nickname was chunky, like: ‘Oh, no know we can’t have that.’
“So I love my Bulldogs, right. I've got a couple of Bulldogs, me and my Mrs, we absolutely love them, so just: ‘Oh, just call me the Bulldog,’ and they were like: ‘Oh, you can't you pick your own nickname.’
“Anyway, I ordered a club glove from America and they said: ‘Do you want anything embroidering?’ I said, ‘Yeah, The Bulldog,’ and anyway it came through the post and I got all excited and opened it up and it said The Bullet.
“So, you know, I just took a video of it and my mates saw it and then everyone just started calling me the bullet, so it’s down to Matthew Nixon actually.”
So there we have it. Armitage's nickname came about not because of a playing trait, characteristic or because of his name, but a simple mistake that stuck!
