If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it — just come up with new colorways.
Rory McIlroy has worn Nike Golf’s Lightweight Innovation Color polo at the year’s first three majors, including his victory at The Open Championship. He’ll once again sport his favorite polo at the PGA Championship. This time he’ll debut two new colorways — dark grey/laser crimson and dark grey/hyper grape, which is reminiscent of that grape flavored Bubblicious gum we all loved as kids.
Prior to The Open Championship, I interviewed Eric Schindler from Nike Golf’s apparel team for a PGA TOUR Style Insider post, and we talked about why the Lightweight Innovation Color polo has become Rory’s go-to shirt.
“This polo is the perfect combination of form, function, and identity. If you ask anyone in the general public, they will undoubtedly say, ‘that’s Rory’s polo.’ We wanted to extend the conversation with this polo since it is so iconic and such a great vehicle for all that we stand for….performance, color, and technology. It is the first polo ever made in Rory’s specific construction, one that we call the mobility chassis.” — Eric Schindler, Nike Golf
Read more of the interview with Eric Schindler here.
The new world number one will also debut Nike’s new Innovation Two-color Jacquard polo in a bright Hyper Cobalt colorway that utilizes a new jacquard technique called Racheltronic. Nike claims that this technique provides a seamless transition from solid jersey to mesh construction.
“We know it’s going to be hot and muggy at Valhalla, so we focused on keeping our athletes cool and comfortable in the heat of competition. Through techniques like Racheltronic jacquard, laser cut and bonded mesh panels through the underarm, laser perforated collars and laser perforation at the upper back, we are providing our athletes with cooling innovations that will allow them to focus on playing their best.” — Merritt Richardson, Nike Golf, VP of Global Golf Apparel and Footwear
The most intriguing aspect of Rory’s script is the energetic bursts of colors that Nike has added to his flat-bill hats. McIlroy first wore this style of hat during his victory last week at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. Thumbs up to Rory for the way he is wearing these flat-bills. They aren’t actually flat. He has added the perfect amount of curve to the bill. New for the PGA Championship are two-tone versions of this hat that coordinate with the rest of his look for that day.
With the exception of the two-tone hats, all of the pieces in Rory’s PGA Championship script are now available at Nike.com.