The former men’s golf world ranking No. 1 appeared at the Plantation Golf Course in Kapalua, Hawaii, the venue of the tournament, on the 3rd (Korean time), two days before the opening of The Sentry, the first tournament of the PGA Tour season. Jason Day (Australia), above, had a brand logo on his hat and lapel that was unfamiliar to professional golf players.This is the logo of Malbon, a clothing brand with which Day signed a new contract.Day has been wearing a hat with the Nike logo on it.Day ended his long relationship with Nike as soon as the new year dawned. Once Nike establishes a relationship with an athlete, it almost never stops.And he willingly gave up a large amount of money.Even after withdrawing from the golf equipment market, including clubs and balls, Nike continued to sponsor players with clothing, hats, and shoes.Many top players are sponsored by Nike, including Tiger Woods (USA), world number one Scotty Scheffler (USA), Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland), Brooks Koepka, Tony Finau (USA), and Tommy Fleetwood (England). there is.Kim Joo-hyung has also been wearing clothes and hats with the Nike logo since last year.However, Day, who had been sponsored by Nike since 2016, switched to another clothing brand instead of Nike, drawing attention as it was interpreted as a signal that Nike would stop sponsoring golf players.
It is predicted that not only Day, but also Nike-sponsored athletes will continue to remove the Nike logo from their clothes and hats in the future.Above all, the issue of whether to continue sponsoring Woods, who is known to have an inseparable relationship with Nike, has emerged as an immediate concern.Woods has been a ‘Nike Man’ since his debut on the professional stage in 1996.Woods, who made his debut with Nike for an astronomical sum of $40 million over five years at the time, spent 27 years wearing only the Nike logo from head to toe.Woods, who used Nike products including golf clubs and balls, is considered the player who contributed most to Nike’s pioneering of the golf market.In particular, the golf-related industry is paying close attention to Nike’s moves as there has been no news of a renewal since Woods’ 10-year contract with Nike ended in December of last year.Last year, Woods wore competitor FootJoy golf shoes instead 스포츠토토존 of Nike golf shoes, giving rise to speculation that his long-standing relationship with Nike was cracking.