Justin Rose made headlines in the days leading into the Cadillac Championship with the news that he had signed with McLaren and would be using their irons at Doral.
Justin Rose remains one of the world’s best golfers on his day. The Englishman won the Farmers Insurance Open at a canter earlier this year. And he once again contended on Sunday at The Masters before falling away on the last nine at Augusta National.
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So it seemed like a real gamble from Rose to sign with McLaren. Many will remember the struggles he had after he signed a deal with Honma back in 2019.
While it is impossible to know how responsible the clubs were for his decline, there is no question that he took a long time to really recover – missing the 2021 Ryder Cup.
Unfortunately, the early signs hinted that signing with McLaren may have been an unnecessary error.
Justin Rose struggles in first start since switching to McLaren irons
Rose spent the week at Doral down towards the very bottom of the leaderboard. His 68 on Sunday was the first time he managed to break par on the Blue Monster.
With that, it was easy to jump to conclusions and suggest that the McLaren move was a big mistake.
However, some of the statistics from the Cadillac Championship tell a completely different story.
Positive signs over the weekend at the Cadillac Championship for Justin Rose
Rose gained more than three shots on the field with his approach play across Saturday and Sunday, according to Data Golf.
That would certainly suggest that his new irons were performing well.
It should also not be forgotten that Rose seems to have accepted a lack of consistency in his game at this stage of his career.
It may surprise some to learn that he has more missed cuts on the PGA Tour this year than top 10s. He is not someone who is going to contend every single week. But he clearly feels that gives him the best chance to win when he does put himself in the mix.
He found himself under greater scrutiny after giving himself another opportunity to win The Masters.
It may have been a move that he did not need to make at this stage of his career. But it is certainly reasonable to say that his finishing position at Doral did not tell the full story.
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