More than a year ago, Justin Rose was being praised for the grace he showed after losing the Masters playoff to McIlroy. Now, on Thursday at Quail Hollow, with new McLaren clubs still refusing to click and a $20M event slipping away, that composure did not survive the afternoon.
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During the first round of the Truist Championship, Justin Rose was visibly frustrated after a bad shot on the par-4 1st (his 10th). He dropped his iron on the follow-through. It bounced on the grass, but Rose didn’t pick it up. Rather, he was fuming at his blunder while pointing toward the divot mark. The commentators on the Golf Channel broadcast offered a possible reason behind his frustration.
Justin Rose didn’t fully commit to the shot, which resulted in the ball crossing over the green and landing in the bunker. Rose picked up a bogey, his third of the day, to drop from 1-under to even par. He eventually finished the day at even par thanks to a birdie on the sixth hole. He is tied for T33 when the PGA Tour stopped the round due to adverse weather. Notably, the Englishman has recently switched to the McLaren Golf gear. And it hasn’t worked well for him.
Justin Rose couldn’t believe it 🏎️🏌️ @Skratch
At the Cadillac Championship, his last event before Truist, he finished tied for last in a limited field, losing nearly two strokes to the field tee-to-green across three rounds. The irons were not performing, and the numbers showed it plainly even though he tried to brush it off with a cheeky joke. This is also not his first difficult equipment change.
When Justin Rose was ranked No. 1 in the world, a switch to Honma Golf preceded a notable dip in form. The McLaren move is following a similar early script, and Thursday’s round at Quail Hollow did nothing to suggest the clubs have settled in. The frustration is understandable, but it still sits oddly with the 45-year-old’s reputation.
After all, the 2013 U.S. Open champion has long been considered one of the calmer heads on the PGA Tour, and his composed response to losing the Masters to McIlroy last year only reinforced that. But again, frustration is not without precedent.
Justin Rose kicked his bag and threw a club toward the bushes at the 2015 Players Championship, nearly hitting his caddie, according to reports. After a wayward shot at the 2025 Scottish Open, he smashed his club into his bag, again coming uncomfortably close to the man next to him. Even during the 2026 Masters, he threw his putter on Friday after he missed the birdie putt on the 4th hole.
Anyways, Justin Rose is not the only one who has struggled to keep his composure on the course.
A frustration that’s becoming a pattern across the PGA Tour
Rory McIlroy threw a 3-iron into the water at Doral during the 2015 WGC-Cadillac Championship, one of the most replayed frustration clips of his career.
Tiger Woods made club-slamming almost routine during his peak years, with cameras regularly catching him spiking irons after wayward shots at the Masters and other multiple PGA Tour events in the 2000s.
Wyndham Clark has been suspended for damaging lockers inside the Oakmont clubhouse after the US Open. Even Scottie Scheffler, not exactly known for losing his cool, had his moments. At the RBC Heritage in April last year, after an approach shot got caught in a tree and dropped into a bunker, he smashed his club.
Then there is Adam Hadwin, who produced one of the most memorable moments of frustration. At the 2023 Valspar Championship, he took a wedge, slammed it into the ground, broke a sprinkler head buried in the earth, and sent water flying several feet into the air. Hadwin laughed at the mayhem he had caused and reached for the leak with his hands.
Next week is the PGA Championship at Aronimink, a course on which he has won before: the 2010 AT&T National. The clubs aren’t cooperating, and the frustration finally boiled over Thursday at Quail Hollow. How it fares remains to be seen.