Justin Rose raised some eyebrows with the announcement that he will debut new McLaren Golf clubs at this week’s Cadillac Championship in Miami.
It’s part of the Formula One racing team’s launch into the golf space and coincides with this week’s Miami Grand Prix on Sunday.
On the surface it looks like a big gamble by the 45-year-old Rose, who became the second-oldest player to reach No. 3 in the Official World Golf Ranking following his win at Torrey Pines earlier this year. Now No. 5 following a two-week break after a tie for third at the Masters, Rose is making the switch ahead of a stretch that includes two signature events and the PGA Championship.
Rose said he has been working with the McLaren Golf engineering team from the outset for “a lot longer than a year,” and has conducted extensive testing with the clubs.
“Clubs are feeling great. Obviously a lot of my own preferences have gone into the irons that I’m playing,” the Englishman said on Tuesday. “I’m excited to finally get them in the bag and sort of just enjoy them now for the rest of the season.”
Rose added that he has been playing without a club manufacturer deal and that he has been trying out different equipment without playing what he would deem the “perfect” set of clubs for him. He also made a club switch in 2019, so he also learned from that process.
“I’m actually looking at what can be better. I’m looking to mitigate risk,” Rose said. “I’m looking at some of the performance data that I’m getting on the range and places like that and out performing what I have. So that’s the exciting part for me.
“Obviously there’s going to be a refinement process. You can test all you want, you got to get the clubs in play, and there’s going to be little mini situations out there, different lies, all sorts of things, just getting comfortable. But in the long-term, no, I don’t see there being an issue at all.”
Rose sees McLaren focusing on a “high end” section of the golf landscape rather than trying to become a mass producer of clubs. He has also become good friends with F1 team principal Zak Brown and reigning world champion Lando Norris, with the McLaren Testing Center about 20 minutes from his home.
“They’re both very keen golfers,” Rose said. “I think there’s a little bit of a get together tomorrow night. So which is kind of before their week gets serious, before our week gets serious. But, yeah, those guys are probably as excited about the launch as I am.”
