Red has long been Tiger Woods’ signature color on Sundays, and Nike his signature brand. “Woods’ traditional Sunday attire of a red Nike shirt, black hat and black pants became synonymous with men’s professional golf,” writes ESPN’s Mark Schlabach.

But on January 8, Woods announced via social media that his almost 30-year partnership with the sporting goods giant has come to an end. Now, based on recent filings with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, it seems Woods is preparing to launch Sunday Red as a new golf brand in partnership with the golf gear brand TaylorMade.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Tiger Woods (@tigerwoods)

Parting Ways

“That there could ever be a world in which Tiger Woods wasn’t sponsored by Nike seemed unspeakable,” writes Julius Oppenheimer of Hypebeast – but the brand’s hold on Woods had begun to slip in recent years.

First, when Nike shuttered its golf line in 2016, he switched to TaylorMade clubs and Bridgestone balls. Then in 2022, he appeared at Augusta National Golf Club in FootJoy shoes. Woods still sported Nike apparel from head to ankle, however – after all, it featured his own “TW” logo along with the Swoosh.

Interestingly, Woods owns that “TW” logo – not Nike – “and could theoretically use it with another company, like TaylorMade,” writes David Rumsey of Front Office Sports. Rumsey also notes that Nike submitted a trademark application for “SUNDAY RED” in 2009 that was never approved and subsequently abandoned.

Moving On

It seems Woods has been happy working with his equipment sponsor of nearly eight years, because the company appears to be his new partner for a lifestyle brand. Golf.com reports four USPTO applications by TaylorMade for trademarks covering goods and services from apparel to eyewear, bags and more:

  • One shows the outline of a leaping Tiger.
  • Another pairs the leaping-Tiger image with the letters SDR.
  • Two others spell out the words Sunday Red.

If you’re wondering where “Sunday Red” came from in the first place, Woods attributes the color choice to his mother and her cultural roots in Thailand, where people traditionally wear red on Sundays.

Woods’ next appearance on the greens is scheduled for the Genesis Invitational in mid-February – the PGA Tour event in Los Angeles that he hosts. What he’ll be wearing for the occasion is up for speculation, although odds are it will be red on Sunday.

The Promo Perspective

Golf is big business for the promo industry. The U.S. golf course and country club market was worth about $31.3 billion in 2023, according to IBIS World, with average yearly growth of 1.8% since 2018. And with more than 16,000 golf courses at 14,000 golf facilities around the country, there are more golf courses nationwide than McDonald’s or Starbucks locations.

              READ MORE: Driving Growth In Golf

But you don’t have to be a golfer to wear golf gear. Suppliers and distributors move tons of golf shirts every year, many of them as part of corporate apparel programs, and many brand names. In fact, the best-selling branded polo for SanMar, PPAI 100’s first No. 1 supplier, is from Nike. 

A search of SAGE yields several suppliers who sell TaylorMade golf balls and bags – including Gold Bond, the No. 22 supplier, and Ball Pro, the No. 37 supplier. TaylorMade itself sells apparel, but it’s unclear whether that apparel is available in promo.