A Rare Masters ‘L’: Day Asked To Remove Sweater

The Masters doesn’t make many mistakes—but it made one on Friday.

This is my favorite golf tournament of the year for a long list of reasons. The course, which proved fiery and highly entertaining on Saturday, is captivating in every way. The traditions, even if some of them are old-school, add to the majesty of the event.

As someone who attended last Tuesday and has been seven times, I drink the Kool-Aid on everything Masters. It is as close to perfect as we get in golf, even if there is minor nitpicking to be had. (Can we get more TV coverage so we don’t miss the leaders teeing off on Saturday?)

But even I am perturbed by the decision to ask Jason Day to remove his Malbon sweater vest during Friday’s play. That is, according to Day, what happened after he debuted a “busy” sweater that read “Malbon Golf Championship” in bold letters.

He started the morning wearing the vest during the completion of Round One but took it off before starting Round Two about 30 minutes later.

“Yeah, they asked me to take it off, the vest off, yesterday,” Day said after his third round. “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.”

Day didn’t fight back on the matter, taking the vest off without protest. He also said he wasn’t attempting to make any statement by wearing the vest that generated considerable conversation on Friday.

“I wasn’t trying to do anything,” he said. “(Malbon) just scripted me in it and I was wearing it.”

Look, the vest is not something I would wear. Day looked like a cigarette carton and I’m not going to defend the look. The words “Malbon Golf Championship” with “No. 313” above it don’t mean anything of substance to my knowledge, which detracts from the style.

Day has taken a lot of fashion chances with Malbon. Some of them have worked, although I would argue the 36-year-old Australian isn’t really the best golfer to pull off baggy pants or throwback ’90s apparel.

Regardless, it’s hard to believe Augusta National and the Masters would police any outfit during the tournament. I get that it’s an invitational, but any decision to limit apparel is in direct contrast to their stated mission of growing the game among all demographics.

I’m particularly confused about what constitutes offensive apparel that shouldn’t be allowed.

LIV golfers are essentially wearing clip-art logos to represent their teams. Their bags have massive logos with team names.

Hoodies and other athletic gear were worn throughout the first two rounds, so that is acceptable.

Rory McIlroy wore a full “tanimal” outfit Friday. Other than wearing it ironically, I’m not sure how that works.

Sergio Garcia blinded all of us with some of the worst color matching we’ve ever seen.

Don’t even get me started on Viktor Hovland. Yikes.

So all of those outfits are fine but Day’s vest is too much for the green jackets to swallow? I’m not sure that math adds up. Even if the explanation is about advertisements being too large, that seems a little arbitrary.

Also, Day’s scripting was widely available before the tournament. It was obvious what his outfits would be well in advance of him showing up Friday morning. Malbon is known for this type of apparel. If they didn’t want him to wear it, why wouldn’t they try to address that earlier in the week?

This is ultimately great publicity for Malbon. They want everyone to be talking about them. Well, we are talking about them.

The fact Augusta National asked Day to take off the vest adds even more to the disruptor angle. That is, in part, the purpose of the brand. It’s to challenge stereotypes in a sport where, let’s face it, a lot of the game’s best golfers dress with absolutely no personality.

Day even said he could hear Masters patrons having conversations about his outfits.

“I don’t really listen. I’m just trying to play as good as I can. Like I’ll hear (the comments) every now and then but I really don’t pay attention to it, to be honest.”

There is something deeper here, though.

Why does this specific outfit threaten or upset people running a golf tournament?

What is the line and why does it exist?