It’s not a good time to be Tiger Woods. That’s a tempting thought for sure. Woods’s 2024 didn’t go as planned—missed cuts, backlash on the Sun Day Red debut, calls for retirement, a sixth back surgery, etc. 2025 started on a doleful note as well. That leaping Tiger logo of Sun Day Red—an eyesore for fans—has irked apparel giant Puma. They have already filed a lawsuit against it. Tiger Woods doesn’t buzz.

The 15-time major champion arrived at the SoFi center as TV cameras swirled around him. Woods sported an off-white hoodie—bearing the Sun Day Read logo loud and clear—with a white hat that also bore the logo. Loud and clear. The SDR logo features a leaping tiger that has 15 stripes denoting the Woods’s 15 major victories. But Puma said in a trademark filing that it will confuse consumers.

“Due to the confusing similarity of the marks and the identical, legally identical, or closely related nature of the goods and services of the parties, consumer confusion is likely between the Challenged Marks and the Leaping Cat logo.” Woods has yet to issue any statement against it. Nevertheless, as TGL posted the clip of Woods’s arrival, fans jumped on the opportunity to hail the 15-time major winner. “The GOAT has entered the building,” commented one user. “He looks pumped!” wrote another.

Tiger Woods is obviously not playing. He is here to inaugurate the tech-infused indoor golf league along with Rory McIlroy. TMRW Sports is a joint venture of the two PGA Tour icons, along with former Golf Channel executive Mike McCarley. The first match will see Xander Schauffele, Rickie Fowler, and Matt Fitzpatrick’s New York Golf Club going head-to-head against Ludvig Aberg, Shane Lowry, and Wyndham Clark’s The Bay Golf Club. 

While that’s an interesting lineup, fans wanted Tiger Woods to hit the first tee shot of the league. “Crazy that he’s not playing night one…” another voiced a similar opinion. Well, it’s not as crazy as it seems.

Tiger Woods will debut in week 2 of TGL. The indoor golf league wanted to latch onto the NFL (and college football) hype to drive eyeballs. Woods’s week 2 appearance fits that plan. The 82-time PGA Tour winner will tee off on January 14, a day after the NFL Wildcard games, in the same primetime slot at ESPN. That strategy looks likely to pay off. The PNC Championship benefited big time as Woods teed off with his son, Charlie, on a time slot right after college football games.

But Woods’s appearance in a Sun Day Red hoodie despite the recent turmoil also grabbed the attention of fans. “That hoodie [is] so clean,” commented one user. While another, referring to the Puma lawsuit, joked, “I love that Puma jacket he’s wearing.” That Puma lawsuit is the latest trouble for the veteran golfer.

The Puma lawsuit is the second such trouble for Tiger Woods’s Sun Day Red

Notably, Tigeraire, a small brand that manufactures cooling products for sportspersons, filed a notice of opposition against Sun Day Red. They claimed Woods’s brand ‘unlawfully hijacked’ the logo and caused massive confusion among consumers. That matter is now in the hands of federal court as Woods’s legal team decided to sue Tigeraire alleging they were trying to leverage SDR’s status for popularity.

“This case, unfortunately, presents the time-worn circumstance of an opportunistic, misguided business attempting to extract an unwarranted financial windfall from a larger and more successful brand, based on threats of legal action and demands for exorbitant sums,” read the statement.

Fans have also berated the ‘overpriced’ apparel of the fledgling brand. The logo has been a matter of controversy among fans as well. Amid all these, Tiger Woods sporting a Sun Day Red hoodie obviously becomes more significant. The 49-year-old Hall of Famer isn’t backing away from his brand. Notably, SDR recently forayed into college football signing two Stanford QuarterBacks indicating that his apparel brand is more than just a golf apparel brand.