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The definition of “dress code” in golf is becoming increasingly ambiguous.
Plenty of country clubs and high-end public courses still require tucked-in collared shirts and prohibit certain fabrics such as denim. But, as the game’s participation in the U.S. keeps rising, the idea of getting comfortable with golfers dressing down is gaining traction. Brands are embracing more nontraditional outfits, too.
Whether it’s Jason Day sporting a gray Malbon sweatsuit at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am or Rickie Fowler’s head-to-toe camo Puma getup at the WM Phoenix Open, today’s attire on the PGA Tour makes the debate over hoodies in golf from just a few years ago seem like child’s play.
Rickie Fowler broke out the Realtree camo outfit for day 1 of the Waste Management Phoenix Open 😲
— 5 GOATs (@5GOATs_) February 6, 2025
(📸: @SmylieKaufman10)https://t.co/ztWo2bF5kl pic.twitter.com/CnwqnPLeUK
Beyond the one-off request to remove a sweater, punishments are nonexistent, at least to the public, as the PGA Tour doesn’t disclose fines for most rule violations, including ones related to the dress code.
But the PGA Tour does indeed have a dress code—sort of.
The 166-page 2025 PGA Tour Player Handbook and Tournament Regulations has one three-sentence statement on appearance:
“Players shall present a neat appearance in both clothing and personal grooming. Clothing worn by players shall be consistent with currently accepted golf fashion. The Chief Referee shall interpret this regulation, subject to the approval of the Commissioner.”
The vagueness may be intentional, as “currently accepted golf fashion” can change from year to year, if not quicker. It also allows tournament officials to not have to rule with an iron first, and make a formal decision on 100-plus golfers who come to the first tee at any given tournament.
The next 500 words concern the size of sponsor logos and forbidden marks like political endorsements and entities that operate unauthorized tournaments. But, as for (the unlikely possibility of) Rory McIlroy showing up in jean shorts and a soccer jersey, there is nothing else about fabric, collars, or hoods.
In fact, one of the tour’s most talked-about policies is apparently unwritten: There is no reference in the handbook to the longtime requirement that players wear long pants.
In 2019, the PGA Tour began allowing players to wear shorts during practice rounds, and when LIV Golf launched in 2022, shorts in competition was one of its calling cards. This year, however, LIV has changed its tune, and in March is implementing a policy that shorts can be worn only when the heat index is 90°F and above.
Shorts aren’t going to be the hill that most pros die on, though. And just like amateurs might morph their appearance depending on the course they play, the determining factor for experimenting is the time and place.
At the Masters last year, Day said he was asked by a tournament official to remove a Malbon vest with large brand markings. Most hardcore and casual golf fans would probably agree that Augusta National isn’t the place to dress your loudest.
But where is the line? Could Fowler sport another camo outfit, or something similarly eye-popping, at one of men’s golf’s other three major championships? Is Day’s sweatsuit acceptable somewhere other than Pebble Beach?
One thing is clear: The PGA Tour doesn’t want to talk about it, having declined an interview request for this story. But the Tour’s embrace of outfits like Fowler’s—it ran an article about it on the official PGA Tour website—shows the circuit doesn’t want to be the bad guy when it comes to fashion.
