Australian Day asked to tone down outfit choices
Jason Day turned plenty of heads with his outfit choices at last year's Masters but said on Tuesday he will not be sporting such bold ensembles this week after Augusta National requested he sport a more reserved look.
The Australian former world number one, who left Nike in early 2024 to join Malbon Golf, had some interesting outfits ready for the year's first major this week but has since had to make changes.
"We kind of did, but we kind of cut everything in half. With what we're supposed to wear they said that's a little bit much, but that's okay," Day, 37, said after a nine-hole practice round with fellow Australians Min Woo Lee and Cameron Smith.
"We had to send it in. I think I'm on the shortlist of guys that have to send their scripting in now. I get it. It was a little bit much on Thursday."
At the 2024 Masters, Day wore baggy blue pants and a loud sweater vest that featured "No. 313. Malbon Golf Championship" in large block letters across the front when he showed up on the Friday to complete his first round alongside Tiger Woods.
But when the 2015 PGA Championship winner showed up for the second round later that day the vest was gone and he later said tournament organisers had asked him to remove the garment.
Day, who finished runner-up in his Masters debut in 2011 and this week will make his 14th start at Augusta National, said he was fine altering his outfits and did not want to be a distraction.
"It's good. I understand. We're here for the tournament. This is why we come every April. We're here to play the tournament and I understand," he added.
"We'll do what we can with what we have fashion-wise and enjoy playing the tournament.
SWEDEN'S ABERG A FAN OF CELL PHONE-FREE MASTERS
Sweden's Ludvig Aberg said the strict ban on cell phones at the Masters is one of the characteristics he enjoys most about the prestigious tournament, saying it fosters a more focused environment for players and fans.
Augusta National strives to cultivate a traditional atmosphere and anyone caught on the grounds with a mobile device risks removal and the potential loss of entry privileges.
"The fact that the patrons don't have their phones out, it actually makes it feel like they're so much more engaged," said Aberg, who finished a surprising runner-up in his first appearance at the major tournament last year.
"There's a lot more eye contact with the fans. You can really tell that they watch and appreciate good golf."
The 25-year-old, one of the few players who managed to practice on the course on Monday before wet weather and approaching thunderstorms cancelled the session, said he could immediately feel the difference.
"Yesterday when we played, it almost felt like a tournament round because there were so many people," he said.
"The fact that no one is on their phone, no one is taking pictures, it feels like they're a lot more engaged, which I as a player really appreciate.
"I think that's very cool."
The cell phone ban is not the tournament's only limit on technology.
In homage to a bygone era, there are no electronic scoreboards, only manual ones where numbers are changed by hand. Cameras are also banned during tournament rounds.
Aberg last year came up short of making history by just failing to become only the third player to win the tournament on the first try, which would have put him alongside Gene Sarazen (1935) and Fuzzy Zoeller (1979).
Horton Smith won the first Masters ever played in 1934.
"It sucks that I don't get a second try on that, that I can't do it again," he said.
"Looking back to last year, it was really cool, and it would have been cool to do that and put my name on that list, but I hope to do it in another way."
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