Why Nike forced Masters champ Patrick Reed to wear a different shirt than he wanted on Sunday
Masters champion Patrick Reed grew up idolizing Tiger Woods, from the way he played to his demeanor and the way he carried himself on the course.
He even emulated the way Woods dressed, particularly on Sundays.
Tiger, of course, is known for wearing red on Sundays, so that’s what Reed has done throughout his career. The 27-year-old has worn red on Sunday for all five of his PGA Tour wins — until the Masters.
“The best player ever to live when I was growing up wore black pants, a red shirt,” Reed told the Augusta Chronicle before the Masters. “I was growing up watching him, I always thought, you know, it would be cool to wear black and red on Sunday.”
Reed woke up Sunday morning with a three-shot lead over Rory McIlroy and went on to beat Rickie Fowler by one shot to win his sixth tournament and first green jacket.
But he did it wearing black pants and a pink shirt, as opposed to Tiger red.
.@PReedGolf on Nike not letting him wear Red on Sunday
“Pink is the new red. Azalea pink looked good with the Green Jacket. It popped!” pic.twitter.com/a08dlhXq7C
— The Brandon Tierney and Sal Licata Show (@BTandSal) April 9, 2018
The reason: Nike has a new dress code for the golfers it sponsors.
The company sponsored 17 players at the Masters, including both players in the final pairing on Sunday, Reed and McIlroy.
“They’re doing a new thing where all the players stay in the same kind of storyline,” Reed told the Golf Channel last week.
“All the players will either be in dark blue or gray, grayish black today and yesterday, and then all of us will be in the same color tomorrow and Saturday and Sunday,” he said.
McIlroy, like Reed, also wore pink, although he covered it up with a white pullover.
But one of the Nike players did not — Tiger Woods.
Woods still wore his traditional red and black on Sunday, when he fired his only under-par round of the tournament, shooting a 69. He is exempt from Nike’s dress code.
Nike forbade him to wear red on Sundays. That color is specfically reserved for Tiger. Welcome to Nike Patrick! I think you should adopt that pink as your Sunday color!
— Ion Revak (@Warrant_Revak) April 9, 2018
Reed pointed out to Sporting News that his decision had nothing to do with Tiger; it was all because of Nike.
Given Reed’s performance, maybe this will be the start of a new tradition of wearing pink on Sundays.
If Nike lets him, of course.
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