Justin Rose’s McLaren partnership isn’t exactly off to a dream start.
On his very first hole with his new club manufacturer Rose found the water on a par five, and made triple bogey. He’s T52 after round one of the Cadillac Championship, shooting two-over par.
Rose’s move to McLaren was shocking. The 45-year-old has had a second lease of life in the last two seasons as an equipment-free agent, so this is a massive gamble for the Englishman.
His first round of the Cadillac Championship was the worst tee-to-green performance of his season, according to Strokes Gained data, and Rose responded to this when he heard the stat.
Justin Rose’s response to poor start with McLaren clubs
Justin Rose lost 2.26 strokes ball-striking and 4.83 strokes tee-to-green during his first round of the Cadillac Championship. That’s his second-worst ball-striking and worst tee-to-green round of 2026 for the 203 US Open winner.
When he saw this statistic on X from Rick Gehman, he replied, “Cheers Rick for the stats… will use DRS tomorrow after that info… 🤝”
DRS means Drag Reduction System, a feature used by Formula One cars before this year which allowed them to go faster on the straights.
It’s nice to see Rose has taken it well after signing with a company best known for their successes in F1. But he’ll be hoping he can figure this out, and quickly, with the PGA Championship fast approaching.
There are signs, however, that it wasn’t necessarily the club’s fault.
Why Justin Rose’s poor first round at Doral wasn’t McLaren’s fault
Rose played poorly during his opening round, but it isn’t fair to put all the blame on the new clubs. He doesn’t have a full bag of McLarens. Instead, he’s only playing with irons, but keeping his old woods, driver, and putter for the time being.
His putter was on fire, as Rose gained 2.22 strokes on the greens, but he lost strokes everywhere else.
Rose lost 1.26 strokes on approach, not a great start for the new irons, but he also lost 0.7 strokes off the tee and 2.62 strokes around the greens.
He doesn’t have a McLaren driver in the bag, so his play off the tee cannot be blamed on the new manufacturer. Nor does he have wedges, so his play around the green cannot be attributed to that either.
All in all, it was just a poor day at the office for Rose, which is terrible timing for McLaren.
