Justin Rose, using new equipment, opened this week’s Cadillac Championship at Doral with his second-worst tee-to-green round of his season, losing 4.83 strokes.
The Englishman, however, had a cheeky response to that stat on Twitter (X).
“Will use DRS tomorrow after that info,” Rose wrote.
Rose was referring to F1’s Drag Reduction System that would boost a car’s top speed.
The reason he made that connection was because this week, Rose switched to McLaren irons amid the company’s global launch of its golf equipment.
Yes, that McLaren. Known for speeding around a racetrack, not smacking golf balls.
It was a curious decision, because Rose, at 45 years old, is playing some of the best golf of his career. He finished runner-up at the 2024 British Open and 2025 Masters, won in August at the FedEx St. Jude Championship and in January at the Farmers Insurance Open and placed T3 in Augusta last month (he has not made a start since).
Through 54 holes of the Cadillac Championship, though, he’s played dreadfully.
Cheers Rick for the stats… will use DRS tomorrow after that info… 🤝 https://t.co/8TOHda3p1M
— Justin ROSE (@JustinRose99) April 30, 2026
When he completed a third-round 73 on Saturday morning, he sat last on the leaderboard in the 72-player field at six over par.
He’s also ranked the worst in the field in strokes-gained total, losing 8.54 strokes. Plus, the 2013 U.S. Open champion is 65th in strokes-gained approach (-3.307) and 66th around the green (-2.286). Rose did not switch his woods and putter.
It’s not that this week is the first time Rose has swung his new irons. It’s just the first time using them in competition.
“McLaren Golf has been something that’s been on the back burner for a good number of months,” the world No. 5 said Tuesday in his pre-tournament press conference. “Obviously, to launch a brand out of the ground, obviously, has been going for a lot longer than a year. 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. So yeah, I’ve been kind of working with the project for well over a year, probably.”
For the last six years, Rose has been an equipment free agent. In 2019, he left TaylorMade and signed with Honma, but that partnership only lasted a year.
He does not view the switch to McLaren similarly.
“From my point of view, no, I’m actually looking at what can be better,” the former world No. 1 said. “I’m looking to mitigate risk. “Yeah, I’ve done this once before as well in 2019 obviously and I kind of learned a lot from that process. So I feel a bit better place now to kind of go down this path.
“I think yeah, 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.”
Perhaps it’ll take some time for him to get adjusted to his new setup (the PGA Championship, which he won in 2010 and finished runner-up in 2018, is at Aronimink Golf Club in two weeks). It’s also possible that his struggles at Doral aren’t equipment-based.
But Rose isn’t getting too down on himself. In addition to his DRS comment, another Twitter user wrote, “Justin Rose missing the cut with his new McLaren irons would be something…”
Rose responded: ”What odds you giving me??”
Of course, it was 100%. The Cadillac Championship, a signature event, does not have a 36-hole cut.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Justin Rose Curiously Switched to McLaren Golf Clubs This Week. It's Not Going Well. .
