Day says he was asked to remove vest that looked like ‘billboard’

AUGUSTA, Ga. - Jason Day confirmed Saturday that he removed an unusual vest on Friday because Augusta National Golf Club asked him to.

The vest had gotten a lot of attention on social media.

The white vest from the Malbion fashion house read in bold letters across the belly, “Malbon Golf Championship.”

“It looks like he’s wearing a billboard,” one patron quipped while watching from the shade.

On Thursday he wore some loose-looking slacks from Malbon that harkened back to the baggy shorts from the Fab Five era of Michigan basketball.

The vest apparently went too far.

Here’s an exchange between reporters and Day on Saturday about the clothing:

Q. Jason, your attire is getting even more traction on social media, especially when you’re talking about being in the valleys and the wind was whipping and there’s a lot there to whip.

JASON DAY: Yeah, there really is (laughter). Kind of like if I’m down -- if it’s down breeze, these things puff up pretty quick.

Q. Is it to the point where it affects how you feel golfing? Does it affect your balance at all? Is it hard to get accustomed to?

JASON DAY: I don’t think so. Tiger had baggier stuff on in the early 2000s. He did pretty good. I think it’s fine.

Q. Have you been receiving anything in your ear, either positive or negative, about it as you traverse?

JASON DAY: To be honest, I don’t really listen. I’m just trying to play as good as I can.

Like I’ll hear every now and then, but I really don’t pay attention to it to be honest. I’m just trying to play good golf. That’s all that matters.

Q. Those are pants that are better suited for me than you just in of body types. Are they comfortable?

JASON DAY: They’re very comfortable. It feels like I’ve got nothing on really to be honest.

Q. Have you heard any -- is it okay with the green jackets, the designs and the things that you’ve been wearing? They can be a little bit restrictive.

JASON DAY: Are you talking about like Augusta in general? Yeah, they asked me to take it off -- the vest off yesterday.

Q. The busy one?

JASON DAY: Yeah, the busy one. Respectfully, you do that because it’s all about the tournament here, and I understand that. I respect the tournament. That’s what we’re here to do is try and play and win the green jacket.

Q. Did they explain to you why they’d like you to take it off? The logo is too big?

JASON DAY: I don’t know. I didn’t ask. They said, can you take it off? I said, yeah, no worries.

Q. Was it a mistake in your mind putting it on yesterday? Or did it do what you were trying to do?

JASON DAY: What was I trying to do? I don’t know what I was trying to do.

Q. What were you trying to do?

JASON DAY: I wasn’t trying to do anything. They just scripted me in it, and I was wearing it.

Q. That’s what happens, you’re given your outfits by your sponsors?

JASON DAY: Yeah, they send you the scripting and say, this is what we want you to wear Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and I’m like, okay.

Q. If they asked you to remove it, it came from who?

JASON DAY: It came from Augusta National.

Q. Like a green jacket?

JASON DAY: I don’t know if it was a green jacket. I don’t know who it was. They asked, and I respectfully took it off.

Masters on the fashion map

More than any place in golf, the Masters is the place to see and be seen, and that goes for players and their sponsors. So in the last few years, the companies that provide their gear have started going all out the first full week of April.

Justin Thomas, Erik van Rooyen and Akshay Bhatia are ambassadors for Greyson Clothiers, which bills itself as a full lifestyle brand complete with hip options. Greyson is the brainchild of Charlie Schaefer, who once served as senior vice president of design for Ralph Lauren, and who launched the brand in 2015 at the Masters.

Viktor Hovland, who is contending again this year, has an apparel deal with J. Lindberg. And when it comes to Masters wear, the Swedish clothing company has put him in some bold prints that often pay homage to the home of the year’s first major.

That includes the black shirt with the giant azalea across the front that Hovland wore this week. The azalea, a particular species of Rhododendron, is almost synonymous with Augusta National and can be found throughout the course.

Hovland said during last year’s PGA Championship at Oak Hill that he usually wears more muted colors.

“I wear a lot of gray, black, and that’s about it,” he said. So when asked about the attire on the course, he replied quite simply: “Well, J. Lindeberg, they give me this stuff and pay me money to do so, so I just show up and wear what they want me to wear.”

In other words: They put it out, he puts it on.

Of course, there are still plenty of players sponsored by mainstream sports apparel companies.

Rory McIlroy still wears Nike, just like Scottie Scheffler, the world’s top-ranked player, and Brooks Koepka, the reigning PGA champion. Rising star Ludvig Aberg is among those wearing Adidas gear, and former Masters champion Jordan Spieth is the most well-known ambassador for Under Armour, reportedly making eight figures annually on a deal through the 2029 season.

As part of the contract, Under Armour also donates $1 million annually to the Jordan Spieth Family Foundation.

But perhaps the biggest fashion icon in golf has been Tiger Woods, who made wearing Sunday red popular everywhere from exclusive private clubs to small-town munis. Woods began doing it when he was a junior because his mom, Kutilda, said it was his “power color.” He played well his first time in red and stuck with it out of superstition.

For 27 years, Woods’ Sunday red came from Nike in one of the most successful partnerships in sports. But late last year, the sides announced they had split up, and Woods revealed in February that he would be unveiling his own brand called Sun Day Red in a partnership with his golf equipment provider, TaylorMade.

“Sun Day Red will embody a love of playing and competing, and we are for people that share those values, whether it’s on the course or in life,” Woods said in February. “We will be anchored to putting the athlete first in the product decisions we make.”

The first good look the public has had of it has been at Augusta National this week. Woods wore a salmon-colored polo for the opening round Thursday that featured the brand’s logo, a tiger with 15 stripes in a nod to his 15 major wins. Woods then slipped into a gray-and-white ensemble Friday, when he returned early to finish his first round and then played his second.

It was perfect timing — or genius marketing — because Sun Day Red will officially launch on May 1.

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