Rory McIlroy and Jason Day rock new kicks, wild floral prints celebrate the Islands, Justin Thomas’ Ralph Lauren switcheroo, and more. Tour Editor Michael Ruuska gets the New Year started in style with this recap of the fashion scene from Kapalua.
I love the first few PGA Tour tournaments of the calendar year. The Hawaiian swing showcases great tropical themed apparel and gives us a glimpse of the Spring/Summer collections. Here is what caught my eye from the week at Kapalua.
Nike Tournament of Champions?
Nike stole the show. Nine of the 32 athletes in Kapalua were wearing the swoosh. That is an impressive stable of horses, especially considering this is the Tournament of Champions! It was a great platform for Nike to introduce some new polos and footwear. I love what I saw, too!
Rory McIlroy and Jason Day wore two of the latest and greatest Dri-Fit Vapor Golf Polos. Rory donned a version with a throwback Nike “golf club” emblem on the front and tipped collar, while J-Day wore an updated version of the classic Vapor Control Polo with an all-over stripe pattern and contrasting color-tipped collar.
Diaper Dandy, Cameron Champ showed off another new offering from Nike, the Vapor Solid Golf Polo. This solid color design is beautifully offset by the contrasting two button placket and matching sleeve cuff.
We also got a glimpse of some new Nike kicks. I LOVE the Air Max version Jason Day wore and was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked Rory’s Air Zoom Victory Tour Shoes. When I first saw McIlroy’s Instagram tease I wasn’t sure how I felt about them. Upon further review; sign me up. So clean. So classic.
See Also: Rory McIlroy, Jason Day Debut New Nike Shoes
Shaka Sign
The shaka sign is my favorite hand gesture (with the good old fashion peace sign a close second). When you make the first hole-in-one of 2019 you deserve a shaka sign, peace sign, AND a high-five. Patton Kizzire made the first ace of the year and also signed on to wear Peter Millar in 2019 (pretty good start to the year I’d say….). Patton gets a double shaka sign from me for choosing the Peter Millar Leather Trimmed Cotton Canvas belt. (Btw, Peter Millar’s belt game is very underrated).
When In Rome (or Hawaii)…
We saw PING and PXG embrace the island life with specially designed tropical floral print hats. I love it when a brand designs limited edition gear to celebrate a tournament/location. It makes the game of golf (and the job of a fashion blogger) much more fun and enjoyable to watch.
Bubba Smelling Like Roses
I have been a tough fashion critic of Bubba Watson over the years, but I appreciate his spirit and personality. Love him or hate him, Bubba is a colorful character and good for the PGA Tour. He and Rickie Fowler tend to be the guys we can count on to regularly bring the most attention-getting gear to the course. With Bubba, it is typically his shoe game that stands out. The Sentry Tournament of Champions was no exception. The G/FORE Roses Disruptor shoes are dynamite! In fact, if golf fashion were the stock market, I would tell you to “buy, buy, buy” G/FORE stock. They are so hot!
We Missed You, Rickie
Speaking of buying stock, I am all in on Rickie Fowler winning a major in 2019. I don’t think there would be a more celebrated champion amongst the fans and his peers. Rickie winning a major? That would be a boom for golf and Puma! Could you imagine what Puma would do to celebrate and commemorate a Fowler victory at Augusta? They are among the best at creating apparel that generates a buzz. I love the botanically-inspired print of the Verdant Golf Polo and am intrigued to try out the FusionYarn Flex fabric. With that being said, and no disrespect to Bryson DeChambeau (he looked fantastic on Friday), but he lacks Rickie’s fashion cache. This polo would have been more celebrated on the torso of Rickie. Bryson feels like a consolation prize…
Ralph Lauren: RLX vs. Polo
Finally, I found it interesting that we spotted Justin Thomas wearing RLX on Thursday and Friday. Then he switched over to Polo for the remainder of the tourney. Imagine having access to all of that Ralph Lauren apparel? Options would be limitless…
I really like the Nike crossed golf club print along with the complementary tipped collars. Very new and sharp look. What I noticed about Rory and Day over the other nike staffers was how smooth and clean their kits look. It shows that fit and hue go a long way towards the overall look.