It’s the dawn of a new day for Tiger Woods but he’s still wearing his Sunday best.
The golf superstar on Monday unveiled the creation of a lifestyle brand called Sun Day Red, launched as a full partnership with TaylorMade Golf Company. The premium line will feature footwear and apparel to start, first with a menswear range that will be sold exclusively online at SunDayRed.com in the United States and Canada on May 1. Plans call for an expansion into retail and key territories outside of North America and later, lines for women and children.
The 48-year-old golf superstar, a 15-time major champion and 82-time PGA Tour champion, turned up in at Palisades Village in Pacific Palisades on Monday evening to introduce the brand, share his vision for it and explain once again why red has long been his color and the inspiration behind the new moniker. In doing so, he also shared the stage with TaylorMade CEO Steve Abeles and media personality Erin Andrews, who moderated a discussion with the two men.
Asked “why now, why this?” by Andrews, Woods answered that it’s simply the right time. “It’s the right time in my life. It’s transitional. I’m no longer a kid anymore. Life changes, I have kids. This is an important transition as part of my life. I want to have something that I can be proud of, and a brand that I’m proud of going forward.”
What he didn’t say from the stage is that the move comes a little more than a month after Woods announced that a nearly three decade partnership with Nike had come to an end. “Over 27 years ago, I was fortunate to start a partnership with one of the most iconic brands in the world,” Woods shared on social media on Jan. 8. “The days have since been filled with so many amazing moments and memories, if I started naming them, I could go on forever.” He praised Nike co-founder and chairman emeritus Phil Knight for the “passion and vision” in bringing the Nike and Nike Golf partnership together and I want to personally thank him, along with the Nike employees and incredible athletes I have had the pleasure of working with along the way.”
When he made that announcement, Woods revealed that people had been asking “if there is another chapter,” and he said that yes, there “will certainly be another chapter. See you in L.A.!”
The chapter was unveiled on Monday in a room filled with close to 100 journalists and golf insiders (and music courtesy of celebrity DJ Michelle Pesce) at the start of a week that will see Woods hit the links once again for his first competitive tournament in 2024 at the Genesis Invitational. The tournament, teeing off Feb. 15 at Riviera Country Club here in the Palisades, counts Woods as one of its hosts and it’s known to be a special place for the golfer. However, it also is linked to tragedy as he was injured in a devastating car accident during the Genesis Invitational in 2021. He has since had several surgeries to repair his right ankle which was injured in the wreck.
The announcement marks an extension of a partnership between Woods and TaylorMade. In 2017, the company announced that Woods and peer Rory McIlroy signed with TaylorMade after the shuttering of Nike’s golf division. Though Woods continued to wear Nike apparel, the company stopped producing clubs and balls.
Woods fans and golf insiders had been buzzing in recent days after it was revealed that Woods would be holding a Feb. 12 press conference in L.A. Last month, the online shot tracking community NUCLR Golf shared a post on X (formerly Twitter) that claimed to reveal trademark filings from TaylorMade Lifestyle Ventures LLC that showed a logo that featured a sketch of a tiger and the letters S, D and R seemingly in reference to Sun Day Red. Woods, for years, has worn his trademark red polos during final rounds but always with the Nike swoosh.
“Sunday red is me,” Woods said from the stage, crediting his Thailand-born mother Kultida “Tida” Woods for starting what would become an iconic tradition. “I’ve worn red on Sundays. It started with mom. Mom thought being a Capricorn that my power color was red, and so I wore red as a junior golfer and won some tournaments. It’s weird, then I go to university that is red, Stanford, where we wore red on the final day that we played in every single tournament. Every single tournament that I’ve played as a professional, I’ve worn red. It has just become synonymous with me. That’s who I am. Sun Day Red.”
The logo incorporates Woods’ 15 major championship wins within the design of the signature brand tiger. Abeles said Woods asked what will happen when he wins another championship. The CEO said they would alter the logo to reflect that. “This is a full-blown, unequivocal committed partnership. We make every decision together. We make every product decision together,” Abeles explained.
He also said the time was right as the golf industry is in need of a new brand and “a fresh approach” to apparel. They organized a new business in the TaylorMade holding company for Sun Day Red which will operate as a new vertical or “a completely separate business unit.” It is not based in the the TaylorMade headquarters in Carlsbad but rather San Clemente, Calif., where it’s being steered by Brad Blankinship, who has been appointed president of Sun Day Red and will oversee day-to-day management. Blankinship’s resume includes brand work with the likes of Quiksilver and RVCA.
“I do think, whether it’s 10 years from now or 20 years from now, you will look back and say, ‘I was at Rick Caruso‘s place when that company at that moment launched that new brand.’ We are, literally, going to sunrise a brand tonight that will live with us, in our lives, our families, for generations to come,” Abeles said, giving a shout out to Caruso who was also in attendance.
As for Woods, he seemed especially stoked to offer items like luxe cashmere hoodies, a first he said for the golf set. “Being modern and contemporary and premium, that’s the way I’ve always felt that golfers are. I don’t want to have to change to go have dinner. You want to roll right from the golf course into the clubhouse or go out and have dinner. That’s how golf is and we can expand upon that, make it more premium and more elegant, and that’s really neat.”
In closing, he once again referenced his maturity in embarking on this new phase in his career. “My life is transitioning as I’m aging and it’s got me evolving,” he said. “These are things that are important to me. It’s going to be reflected in all of the products.”
