Source :- THE AGE NEWS
Augusta, Georgia: Fashion label founder Stephen Malbon says social media outrage in recent years over Australian Jason Day’s chic and edgy outfits at the Masters misrepresent the collaborative attitude he has towards Augusta National’s approval process.
“It’s their house, their rules,” Malbon told this masthead on Wednesday. “We’re just happy to participate.”
Former world No.1 and 2015 PGA Championship winner Day signed as a Malbon Golf ambassador in 2024. The fast-growing apparel company was founded by Stephen and his wife Erica in Los Angeles in 2017.
It has become revered – and at times criticised – for pushing the boundaries of golf fashion by incorporating baggy pants, colourful prints, bucket hats, and vintage sweaters among its collections.
Malbon Golf, and Day, set social media alight during the 2024 Masters when he wore a sweater vest with “Malbon Golf Championship” printed on the front while grouped with Tiger Woods for the opening two rounds.
Augusta National officials asked Day not to wear the vest again, perhaps because it portrayed a fictitious tournament.
“The internet, and the divisiveness, it starts this whole wildness and turns it into something,” Malbon said about the social media reaction.
Playing his third Masters with Malbon and 15th overall, Queenslander Day and the clothing label have worked hard to respect the famous golf club’s etiquette around “scripting” for competitors – the pre-planned outfits.
“Augusta is why [Day] plays golf,” Malbon said. “It’s a tradition like no other. We don’t want to be disruptive. My goal is to be inspirational. [Hopefully] there are younger people looking at Jason and saying, ‘Wow, he looks like me! Maybe the golf’s for me as well’.”
Malbon explained how the scripting process works, beginning several months before the April major.
“With Jason in particular, they want to know what he’s wearing [when]; they send out [correspondence] around February,” Malbon said. “The collaboration is [about] what are you comfortable with? And if you’re not comfortable, let us know and we’d love to change it and make sure everybody feels good.
“The Masters [is comparable to the magnitude of] the Super Bowl, right? It’s like the biggest stage in golf. The backdrop is the most beautiful golf course. Having [Day] walk those fairways, it’s like the fairways are a [fashion] runway in a sense.”
This year, Day was planning to wear a matching pair of pants and shirt with a bird print during a round, but Augusta National requested he wear a solid print for the trousers.
Day will be wearing a combination of Malbon’s “Hand of The Artist” and summer collections. The former takes inspiration from the birds who inhabit the iconic trees at Augusta National Golf Club, including orioles, blue jays, and the red-headed woodpecker.
“We script him out, we share what he’s going to wear every day,” Malbon said. “They had one request … he’s wearing a green mock polo with [birds] printed on the pants, and they said they’d feel more comfortable if [Day] wore solid slacks that day. And then we said, no problem. It’s not a big deal [if] they want him to wear solid pants, totally fine.”
Malbon praised 38-year-old Day for his stylish vibe and said customers often thought the brand was Australian.
“[Day] is just walking cool,” Malbon said. “He’s handsome, he’s athletic, he looks great. Seeing the photos of him yesterday, he and [caddie] Luke [Reardon] walking down the fairway and he’s got his hands in his pockets, his Malbon and Akila collab sunglasses, [which] are actually prescribed by the doctor [because of vertigo]. It’s like, this guy can’t get cooler.”
Day is one of four Australians in the field alongside 2013 Masters champion Adam Scott, Min Woo Lee, and 2022 British Open winner Cameron Smith. Day boasts five top-10 finishes at the Masters, including a share of second on debut in 2011, an equal-third place behind Scott in 2013 and a tie for eighth last year.
Malbon is manifesting that Day can claim a maiden Masters and second major overall by factoring in what colours would complement a green jacket when scripting his Sunday outfit.
“On Sunday you’ll see he’s wearing khakis and a canary yellow [shirt],” Malbon said.
“Because that will look really, really great with his green jacket.”
