The U.S. is finally starting to thaw out, which means the 2025 Masters is right around the corner. And while Jason Day is feeling good about his game heading into the first major of the year, he does have one worry. Will Augusta National make him change his clothes again as they did last year?
For those who missed out on one of the more bizarre stories coming out of the 2024 Masters, here’s some background.
Last year, Day signed an endorsement deal with Malbon Golf, an apparel company. During the first round, Day wore a white sweater vest from Malbon featuring huge block lettering that read “No. 313 Malbon Golf Championship.”
Augusta National asks major winner to remove ‘busy’ clothing at Masters
The clothing choice stirred up golf fans on social media, but it also seemed to have stirred up the members of Augusta National.
In Round 2, Day’s sweater disappeared, and he explained exactly why on Saturday. Day revealed that the club had asked him to remove the vest while playing the tournament.
“Yeah, they asked me to take it off — the vest off yesterday…. the busy one,” Day told reporters at the time. “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.”
When asked why Augusta had asked him to remove the sweater, Day said he didn’t know.
“I don’t know. I didn’t ask. They said, can you take it off? I said, yeah, no worries.”
That brings us to this year. Day is still playing well, earning a T3 at the American Express and a T13 at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am early in the season. And he’s still wearing Malbon apparel that could be called “busy.”
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So will we have a repeat of last year’s Masters incident a month from now?
Day provided some interesting insight into that question in a brief interview with the Beyond the Clubhouse podcast.
During the chat, Day was asked if he planned to tone down his outfits at this year’s Masters. He then revealed that he and Malbon are trying to get clearance for the clothes he wants to wear. However, he didn’t sound confident that Augusta who endorse the current scripting they have planned.
“So we have to get clearance on the scripting this year. To Malbon’s credit, they’ve got some bold stuff, but I’m not sure if it’ll pass,” Day said. “So we’ll see how it goes. Hopefully [Augusta National] will say yes, if not then we’ll be going back to the drawing board and trying to come up with something different.”
Day also spoke more generally to the reaction he’s received since he started sporting Malbon threads.
“There’s good and bad when you’re trying to shake the tree a little bit… just trying to come through with a different style and a different way to wear some gear,” Day said. “I guess Malbon, they know how to market very, very well, and they have a lot of unique styles, which is fantastic. Some of the style is either love it or hate it, and that’s OK, because they have golf gear and streetwear. They have options, which is nice.”
He also admitted there has been a mixed reaction among his fellow pros. One memorable incident — when Day wore “all sweats head-to-toe” at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am — drew a particularly strong reaction.
“When I played Pebble this year, I felt like I stopped the whole range walking down there in sweats,” Day revealed. “Maybe that’s probably not going to come back again, but it was nice to give it a shot to see how it came out. I think some people liked it, some people hated it.”
Day, who is currently ranked No. 34 in the Official World Golf Ranking, is already qualified for this year’s Masters thanks to finishing in the top 50 last year. He’ll tee off for the opening round at Augusta with the rest of pro golf’s best players on Thursday, April 10.
What specific apparel he’ll be wearing is anyone’s guess. But one thing is for sure, he won’t show up to Magnolia Lane wearing sweat pants.
