Why We Could See An Influx Of Tiger Woods' Sun Day Red On The Professional Tours
Following the recent success of numerous college golfers at significant amateur events, could Sun Day Red's clothing line become a prominent feature on the professional circuits in a few years time?
As we alluded to recently, a total of 44 different apparel brands are represented in the top 100 of the Official World Golf Ranking, with mainstream giants and new startups featuring aplenty.
On the professional circuits, there are countless clothing manufacturers and, although it doesn't feature as much as others, one of those is Sun Day Red, which was founded and created by 15-time Major winner Tiger Woods, in partnership with TaylorMade.
Looking through the list of staffers, both Woods and former Stanford University graduate Karl Vilips are on the books, with Ryder Cup star Tommy Fleetwood also seen wearing the clothing and footwear, albeit he is a clothing-free agent.
Signing Vilips at the beginning of 2025, a near 12 months on from first Sun Day Red being unveiled, the brand has been rather quiet in terms of the player front, until the beginning of 2026.
Certainly, it seems that Sun Day Red isn't going after the high-caliber name on the professional Tours, despite TaylorMade's CEO, David Abeles, teasing a potential signing at the beginning of this year.
Instead, the clothing manufacturer appears to be looking to the future, with its plan already appearing to pay off at amateur and collegiate level.
Vilips won the Puerto Rico Open in his Rookie year on the PGA Tour and was announced as the Korn Ferry Tour's Rookie of the Year in 2024
During the Augusta National Women's Amateur, Paula Martin Sampedro, Andrea Revuelta and Meja Ortengren were three players from Stanford University who were spotted wearing Sun Day Red during the championship.
None of the three, at the time, had an NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) deal with Sun Day Red and, in fact, Stanford has an official apparel deal with Nike.
The reason why the Stanford players were allowed to wear non-Nike apparel during the championship at Augusta National was down to the fact that it wasn't an NCAA event.
It's worth noting that Woods also attended the University from 1994 to 1996, prior to turning professional in the latter year.
Revuelta finished runner-up at the Augusta National Women's Amateur in April
Since that competition, Sampedro has continued to wear the Sun Day Red brand and, back in July, an official deal was struck between the amateur star and the clothing company.
Shortly after Sampedro was involved in helping Stanford to the 2026 NCAA Women's Golf Championship, Sun Day Red posted on social media with the caption: "An NCAA Team Championship title with Stanford set the stage. Now, the summer ahead provides a proving ground. Welcome to the team, Paula Martín Sampedro."
Sampedro is a TaylorMade staffer, and her success has continued since the move to Sun Day Red was made official.
Moving to second in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, the 20-year-old earned low amateur honors for a second straight year at the AIG Women's Open, claiming the Smyth Salver and finishing the championship T29th.
Following on from her excellent result, Sun Day Red sent out a congratulatory message, but it's not just the women's collegiate game where the brand appears to be expanding.
Two weeks prior to Sampedro's signing, Sun Day Red revealed that Auburn University's Logan Reilly had joined its roster.
Once again, Reilly has, and continues, to enjoy an excellent collegiate career, with the American predicted to go far in the game having already qualified and played in the US Open, as well as reaching the semi finals of the US Amateur and Western Amateur Championship.
Like Sampedro, Reilly is a TaylorMade staffer and, when both make the inevitable jump to the professional leagues, it's likely that we will Sun Day Red appear more on our screens as they make their way through the ranks.
Reilly during the US Amateur, where he was defeated in the semi finals by Jay Leng Jr
Like we saw in 1996, when a then 20-year-old Tiger Woods signed a $40 million five-year contract with Nike, there's certainly advantages to investing in the future as the returns can be massive.
Sun Day Red works alongside TaylorMade who, as we know, possesses one of the strongest rosters in the game of golf that includes Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and Nelly Korda, to name a few.
Although Sun Day Red clothing doesn't possess that kind of star power yet, it's obviously looking towards the future names and, in such a competitive space like golf, an educated guess would be thinking it's only a matter of time before the apparel brand features even more in the professional environment.
