Many people have highlighted the risk Justin Rose could be taking in making his big move to McLaren Golf - but the man himself has no issues after revealing just how much input he's had in developing the newest club manufacturer's irons that've just been launched.
The question had to be asked. Rose is 45 but playing some of the best golf of his career, still winning on the PGA Tour and still challenging in Majors.
So is joining McLaren Golf a smart move for Rose? It looks a risk on paper, but since the Englishman says he's been involved from the start, he doesn't see it that way.
And in fact, he says that years of being an equipment free agent have taught him exactly what he wants from his irons - needs which he's fed in to McLaren Golf's development.
"It's something I've been involved with from the outset, really helping the engineering team, really testing the very first editions of the club," Rose said when explaining the move ahead of the Cadillac Championship.
"So yeah, I've been kind of working with the project for well over a year probably.
"Clubs are feeling great. Obviously a lot of my own preferences have gone into the irons that I'm playing. I'm excited to finally get them in the bag and sort of just enjoy them now for the rest of the season. "
Rose referenced his ill-fated spell with Honma and says he's learned a lot from that 2019 move and feels in a "better place now to kind of go down this path" with McLaren Golf.
And after spending so long as a free agent he's been able to chop and change his bag at will, which has given him definitive answers on what he wants in his irons - so as opposed to joining a new manufacturer and having to adapt to the product, Rose has shaped the new McLaren irons himself.
"Do you know what, I don't think I've been playing the perfect set of clubs for me," Rose explained.
"I think when you're not with an equipment manufacturer, there's a little bit of temptation just to bounce around anyway there's so many good options out there.
"But at the same time I've learned so much from being brand agnostic for a while that I kind of have my own preference list now. I feel like I'm in an environment where I can take all my preferences to one place where they can execute on that for me.
"So from my point of view, no, I'm actually looking at what can be better. I'm looking to mitigate risk.
"I think there's some best practices that we're kind of, we've sort of put into development really that I think are giving me what I feel are a fantastic set of golf clubs.
"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."
More to come for McLaren Golf?
Fellow Ryder Cup star Ian Poulter has also put McLaren irons into his bag and Michelle Wie West is a third big name to join as a player and investor.
Rose says McLaren "want to operate in that sort of high end, high performance category" rather than as a mass manufacturer and that after texting with Poulter about his experiences with the clubs, there could be more to follow.
"I think it's an opportunity for a lot of players to sort of test it, to explore what we've been working on," said Rose, who will no doubt attract a lot of attention on the driving ranges of upcoming PGA Tour events.
Rose will use a mix of the new McLaren Golf irons from 4-iron through to wedge, with the majority the bladed Series 1 but a 4-iron, and possibly 5-iron, from the more forgiving Series 3.
"I got the two sets available. I got the 1s and 3s. The 1s are very much a good player blade. The 3s are very much more your approachable mid handicap style club, which is just performing so well in my long irons that I can't not put it in," said Rose.
And although irons are the only clubs released so far, Rose says he could well combine with McLaren Golf on the rest of the bag later on in the process, including woods and putters.
"I think it will be ultimately hopefully doing everything at some point," Rose said. "I got lots of ideas on every part of the game. This is a good place for me to be able to put my ideas down and let the smart engineers go figure it out."
