Justin Rose made the shock decision to move to the new McLaren golf clubs weeks before the PGA Championship.
The 45-year-old has been a free agent with his equipment for several years, and he’s had significant success late in his career. The Englishman was in contention late at both of the last two Masters, and he has won two PGA Tour events in the last two seasons.
But now he’s switched to the great unknown, becoming McLaren Golf’s first player ambassador. He will play with McLaren irons for now, but the manufacturer has plans to develop woods, a driver, a putter, and wedges in the future.
Rose said he’s worked closely with McLaren to develop clubs to his liking, which is a major benefit of this deal. But it’s still a massive risk for an in-form Rose.
Golf Channel analyst Ryan Lavner reacted to the move and said he still thinks Rose can win a major championship this year.
Ryan Lavner says Justin Rose can win a major championship with McLaren clubs
Lavner has some questions about the move, mainly because Rose has had such success without being signed to a club manufacturer. It’s certainly a risk for Rose, considering iron play is his greatest strength.
But despite that, Lavner still believes that he can win a major this year. Speaking on the Golf Channel Podcast with Rex and Lav, he said, “Remember Brooks Koepka? That was one of the keys to his success in the major championships in that 2017 to 2021 period. He was brand agnostic.
“And if you listen to Justin Rose and look, he wasn’t going to say, “Oh yeah, you’re right. This is a huge risk. You know, I’ve definitely got some doubts.” He did not say that at all. But he said, ‘Look, I’ve been an equipment-free agent for the past couple of years now, picking and choosing the clubs that I want.’
“When you look back at what he had in the bag at the Farmers Insurance Open earlier this year when he won and again dominated the field, he had a Callaway driver, he had TaylorMade woods, he had Miura irons, he had Titleist wedges, he had a Scottie Cameron putter. Like he was all over the board.
“And he said he was very conscientious of what had happened last time when he chased a new equipment company, tried to put it in the bag, and it did not work. He said it is going to be a different story this time because he has brought his exact specifications to McLaren, and they are essentially building the clubs to his preferences.
“And again, it’s on a limited basis. It’s fourth through pitching wedge. He doesn’t quite have the woods at this point. He doesn’t have the wedges to this point. He doesn’t have the putter, although they could potentially design all of those clubs in the future. It’s a pretty soft launch for this new equipment company and what Justin Rose is putting in the bag.
However, you look at what is sort of the bread and butter for Justin Rose. It is his iron play. Iron play. And so that’s one thing that I’m going to be paying really close attention to, not just this week at Doral, where again he’s going to have to really hit the clubs from 175 to 200 exceedingly well.
“Next week at Quail Hollow for the Truist Championship is another big ballpark. He’s going to have to rely on those clubs as well, specifically how big the greens are and hitting it to sections. What do we know about Aonimink? Really tricky greens as well, where you’re going to have to be sectioned off and be pinpoint precise.
Justin Rose, I think, could win a major championship in 2026 given the quality of play that we’ve seen over the first few months uh of the year. It’s definitely a surprise to me.
I’m not sure there’s ever a great time to make an equipment change. Middle of April ahead of the heart of the major championship season. Definitely doesn’t seem like the most ideal one.”
It’s a brave move, and we’re immediately going to see if it will pay off at the Cadillac Championship this week!
