1 month ago
By Dave Skretta
Updated [hour]:[minute] [AMPM] [timezone], [monthFull] [day], [year]
AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — At a spot wherever greenish jackets ne'er spell retired of style, nan sometimes-wild, often-trendy and always-interesting manner consciousness of those playing Augusta National has go a viral subplot to nan competition astatine nan Masters this week.
Start pinch Jason Day, marching alongside Tiger Woods successful nan opening round, wearing immoderate loose-looking slacks from Malbon that harkened backmost to nan baggy shorts from nan Fab Five era of Michigan basketball. Then, connected Friday, nan erstwhile PGA champion slipped into a achromatic vest from nan manner location that publication successful bold letters crossed nan belly, “Malbon Golf Championship.”
“It looks for illustration he’s wearing a billboard,” 1 patron quipped while watching from nan shade.
More than immoderate spot successful golf, nan Masters is the spot to spot and beryllium seen, and that goes for players and their sponsors. So successful nan past fewer years, nan companies that supply their cogwheel person started going each retired nan first afloat week of April.
Justin Thomas, Erik van Rooyen and Akshay Bhatia are ambassadors for Greyson Clothiers, which bills itself arsenic a afloat manner marque complete pinch rank options. Greyson is nan brainchild of Charlie Schaefer, who erstwhile served arsenic elder vice president of creation for Ralph Lauren, and who launched nan marque successful 2015 astatine nan Masters.
Viktor Hovland, who is contending again this year, has an apparel woody pinch J. Lindberg. And erstwhile it comes to Masters wear, nan Swedish clothing institution has put him successful immoderate bold prints that often salary homage to nan location of nan year’s first major.
That includes nan achromatic garment pinch nan elephantine azalea crossed nan beforehand that Hovland wore this week. The azalea, a peculiar type of Rhododendron, is almost synonymous pinch Augusta National and tin beryllium recovered passim nan course.
Hovland said during past year’s PGA Championship astatine Oak Hill that he usually wears much muted colors.
“I deterioration a batch of gray, black, and that’s astir it,” he said. So erstwhile asked astir nan attire connected nan course, he replied rather simply: “Well, J. Lindeberg, they springiness maine this worldly and salary maine money to do so, truthful I conscionable show up and deterioration what they want maine to wear.”
In different words: They put it out, he puts it on.
Of course, location are still plentifulness of players sponsored by mainstream sports apparel companies.
Rory McIlroy still wears Nike, conscionable for illustration Scottie Scheffler, nan world’s top-ranked player, and Brooks Koepka, nan reigning PGA champion. Rising prima Ludvig Aberg is among those wearing Adidas gear, and erstwhile Masters champion Jordan Spieth is nan astir well-known ambassador for Under Armour, reportedly making 8 figures annually connected a woody done nan 2029 season.
As portion of nan contract, Under Armour besides donates $1 cardinal annually to nan Jordan Spieth Family Foundation.
But possibly nan biggest manner icon successful play has been Tiger Woods, who made wearing Sunday reddish celebrated everyplace from exclusive backstage clubs to small-town munis. Woods began doing it erstwhile he was a inferior because his mom, Kultida, said it was his “power color.” He played good his first clip successful reddish and stuck pinch it retired of superstition.
For 27 years, Woods’ Sunday reddish came from Nike successful 1 of nan astir successful partnerships successful sports. But precocious past year, nan sides announced they had divided up, and Woods revealed successful February that he would beryllium unveiling his ain marque called Sun Day Red successful a business pinch his play instrumentality provider, TaylorMade.
“Sun Day Red will embody a emotion of playing and competing, and we are for group that stock those values, whether it’s connected nan people aliases successful life,” Woods said successful February. “We will beryllium anchored to putting nan jock first successful nan merchandise decisions we make.”
The first bully look nan nationalist has had of it has been astatine Augusta National this week. Woods wore a salmon-colored polo for nan opening information Thursday that featured nan brand’s logo, a tiger pinch 15 stripes successful a motion to his 15 awesome wins. Woods past slipped into a gray-and-white ensemble Friday, erstwhile he returned early to decorativeness his first information and past played his second.
It was cleanable timing — aliases brilliant trading — because Sun Day Red will officially motorboat connected May 1.
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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
