In a recent years, Jason Day has caused quite a stir among Augusta National’s powers-that-be during Masters week. The culprit has been the former major champion’s outrageous outfits, designed by his apparel sponsor Malbon Golf.
One notorious Malbon sweater was banned by Augusta mid-Masters two years ago.
This year, Day and his Malbon collaborators are pushing boundaries at the historically buttoned-up club once again. One planned Masters outfit in particular was reportedly rejected by Augusta National. But the attire Day showed up at Augusta wearing on Monday, and the rest of his planned apparel for Masters week, is raising eyebrows once again.
Day’s Masters apparel for 2026 is out there
In the lead-up to the Masters, Sports Illustrated reported that Augusta National rejected one of the Malbon outfits Day had planned to wear this week.
That outfit, seen below, featured a head-to-toe rain suit covered in images of birds. But it turns out one half of that outfit survived the Masters inspectors. Day will wear the bird-covered rain jacket on Thursday if inclement weather arrives.
The bird motif can be found throughout Day’s Masters scripting for this year, including in the threads he wore on Monday during practice at Augusta.
Day showed up with a tan vest version of the bird motif, which includes several different bird species intended to represent the avian residents of Augusta National. (You can see Day’s Monday Masters outfit in the photos at the top of the page.)
“If you are on the course and you are tuned in with nature and know the sounds of birds, you’ll make more birdies,” Malbon told Sports Illustrated. “It’s inspired by Native American beliefs. Each one of these birds has a different meaning. I’ve been sending the noises of the birds to Jason for the last six months. Hopefully, he’s trying to stay in touch with nature.”
Day plans to wear the bird vest he rocked on Monday again during Friday’s second round, potentially with a matching hat.
Though the most eye-raising apparel piece of them all might be Day’s choice for Tuesday. While inspired by a birding vest, it looks more like an old-school fishing vest. That might be fitting, though, as Augusta National’s famous ponds are said to be home to monster fish.
Jason Day once had sweater banned mid-round at Masters
If we had to guess what specific problem Augusta National had with the head-to-toe bird outfit they rejected for the 2026 event, it would be that they found it to be too “busy.”
At least, that’s how Day described the offending Malbon sweater the club asked him to remove during the 2024 Masters.
The mostly white vest featured large block lettering that read, “No. 313 Malbon Golf Championship.”
“Yeah, they asked me to take it off — the vest off yesterday… the busy one,” Day told reporters during the 2024 Masters. “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.”
As for the club’s reasoning, Day said that Augusta officials didn’t provide one.
“I don’t know. I didn’t ask. They said, can you take it off? I said, yeah, no worries.”
But Day turned a bad sweater into a good deed. The infamous vest later sold during a charity auction for Day’s Brighter Days Foundation, with the winning bid stretching to $17,300.
