Jason Day Becomes First Big Name To Leave Nike Golf, Joins Bold Malbon Brand For 2024

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With the rumors about Tiger Woods and other professional golfers potentially leaving Nike in the near future, Jason Day became the first high-profile player to leave the swoosh brand. The former World No. 1 will be rolling with the somewhat underground brand called Malbon Golf in 2024.

Day, a 13-time winner on the PGA Tour, originally signed with Nike in 2016, the year after he won his first and only major championship, the 2015 PGA Championship. The Aussie's deal with Nike was reportedly around $100 million.

As for Malbon Golf, the Los Angeles-based brand is a relatively well-known name for diehard golf fans out there, but doesn't exactly fall into the mainstream category. Day is looking to change that as he is the first Malbon Golf ambassador on the PGA Tour after recently inking his new deal with the brand.

Malbon, founded in 2017, describes itself as "a lifestyle brand inspired by the game of golf" and has collaborated with Adidas in the past.

A fair way to describe the bulk of Malbon's apparel is laid back with a tip of the cap to styles of the past, but certainly not afraid to push the envelope when compared to today's typical golf apparel.

The brand showed off some 'fits Day will likely be seen in this year when they announced the partnership on social media. The navy, not-slim-fit pants with random swirls on them is a good example of Malbon's boldness.

From Malbon's perspective, joining forces with Day is a huge move as the brand's first ambassador out on Tour. He's a global name who still very much has plenty of competitive days ahead of him at 36-years-old.

While it's unlikely that Day's move away from Nike will open up the flood gates for other Nike golfers to leave the brand, it's a significant enough move to pay even closer attention to what may happen in the coming months.

Nike will have no issue signing other players to a brand deal, that is if moving forward in the golf space is part of its plan or not, which is the question many are asking.

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Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the world of professional golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.