Night fell over Los Angeles – the sun sank towards the beaches of Santa Monica and the sky began to blush. But in the nearby hills of Pacific Palisades, just off Sunset Boulevard, the conversation turned to “sunrise” and “dawn” and a different shade of red. Sunday Red.
Tiger Woods is now 48. Only one of his fifteen major victories has come in the last fifteen years. Since 2020, he has not played more than three PGA Tour events in a season. His body has been fused back together again and again over the past thirty years.
And yet, on Monday evening, Woods shuffled to a small stage in an upstairs room of this opulent neighborhood to celebrate the start of a new era.
Since the end of his 27-year partnership with Nike in January, Woods had teased another “chapter.” After weeks of gossip and decoded trademark applications, confirmation finally came: Woods is joining forces with TaylorMade.
“This is not an endorsement,” CEO David Abeles emphasized. “This is a complete, unequivocal partnership… with arguably one of the greatest athletes to ever play any sport. Period of time.’ And here, together, they ‘sunrise’ a ‘premium active lifestyle brand’ that ‘will be positioned in the mid-premium to high-end segment of the market… and will be with us for generations to come’.
Tiger Woods launched his new clothing and shoe brand Sun Day Red near Los Angeles
The fifteen-time major winner confirmed his new collaboration with TaylorMade on Monday evening
Woods, now 48, wore red on Sunday throughout his incredible career in professional golf
A short translation for non-business speakers: Woods and TaylorMade have created a new clothing brand – for both golf and everyday life – that will be available from May 1.
The inspiration is simple: on Sundays, Woods wears red. It has become one of the most recognizable rituals in sports and the new offering of its brand? Polo shirts, shoes, cashmere sweaters, gloves, club headgear and caps. “This is what I wear every day,” Woods insisted.
Starting this week. Woods will make his long-awaited return at the Genesis Invitational at nearby Riviera Country Club. It is Woods’ first official PGA Tour event since last year’s Masters, when ankle problems forced him to withdraw.
He went under the knife again and the scars from all his surgeries were evident Monday, as Woods sauntered onto the stage to model some of his new clothes and then explain why TaylorMade and why Sunday were now two words — something about the line of three, apparently.
He wore the cashmere sweater and he wore the new logo: the outline of a tiger, with each of the fifteen stripes representing one of his most important victories. Woods’ immediate question when introduced to the design? “Well, what are we going to do when we’re sixteen?”
Each of the fifteen stripes on the Sun Day Red logo represents one of Woods’ most important victories
The answer is a quick redesign. That story came towards the end of a glitzy launch event with some slick promotional videos and no small exaggeration. “We had a dream,” Abeles said.
The TaylorMade boss claimed that this brand will touch “the lives of… hundreds of millions.” Those present were told that decades from now they will look back on this evening and say: I was there.
But perhaps we can forgive the excitement. After all, Woods and Nike have built one of the most powerful brands in sports. By the end, the golfer would have earned approximately $500 million.
It had started with a five-year, $40 million deal after Woods turned pro in 1996. The roots of this deal go back to a “cold bagel and a cold cup of coffee” near St. Andrews, when Abeles heard that Woods might be open to doing more than using TaylorMade clubs.
TaylorMade CEO David Abeles (r) claims the brand’s strength will continue even after Tiger retires
However, on Monday everyone wanted to make one thing clear: yes, TaylorMade is Woods’ new partner, but Sun Day Red ‘stands on its own’ and will have its own identity. One Tiger will be ‘closely’ involved in the design.
What is not so clear: how long this collaboration lasts and how much it is worth. Officially, the deal is only described as ‘extended’. But Woods is 48 and the concern should be how many more times he will wear red on Sunday. That doesn’t seem to matter to Abeles, who believes this brand will live on long after Woods puts away his clubs.
“Whether you think about Tiger’s playing legacy, or the influence he has had on culture, the sporting world or beyond, it transcends time,” Abeles told DailyMail.com. ‘We hope that Tiger can continue to play as well and healthy for a long time to come. But this brand will stand up for consumers around the world over the years, whether it plays or not.”
On stage, Abeles referred to Nike as just “another brand” and later declined the opportunity to compare this partnership to Nike’s alliance with Michael Jordan. But the parallels are hard to ignore. If Sun Day Red has even a fraction of the staying power of Jordan Brand, they’ve hit the jackpot.
Michael Jordan’s alliance with Nike continues to make billions long after he left the NBA
In 2021, TaylorMade was sold for $1.7 billion, while Tiger’s net worth is estimated at $1.1 billion. MJ’s NBA career ended more than two decades ago, but in 2022, Jordan Brand brought in $5.1 billion for Nike, while MJ pocketed about $250 million.
That’s a lot of polos and cashmere sweaters, which Sun Day Red expects to sell for $125-135 and $300-plus, respectively.
“Life changes, I have children now, and this is an important part of transitioning into this part of my life: having a product and a brand that I’m proud of,” Woods said. “I’ve learned so much over the years and have a lifetime of experience customizing my clothes and shoes to help me play better… I’m ready to share those secrets with the world.”
Will this range help the average golfer with his distance? “I wouldn’t say it necessarily gets you any further,” Woods said with a smile. “But you’ll look better than you do now.”
Caps and club head covers are among the accessories offered in the ‘Sun Day Red’ range
This may be a fool’s errand, of course, but a quick scan of the social media comments suggests that many disagree. Woods certainly looked comfortable enough, and this week he’ll debut the new equipment on the course. His goal is to play once a month during the main season; he is ‘excited’ about the possibility of convincing other players to wear Sun Day Red.
It was after the 2021 Genesis Invitational at Riviera that Woods was involved in the horrific car accident that sparked concerns he may never play again. Last season’s tournament, meanwhile, was his final four-round effort on the PGA Tour before injury struck again.
He grew up not far from here and it was in Riviera that Woods played his first PGA Tour event as a 16-year-old amateur in 1992. What better place for a new rebirth?
As Tiger spoke on stage Monday, a vintage car was stationed a few feet away — it was red, of course. Only time will tell if Woods’ value – and his new look – will increase, even as the model ages.