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.

During the first round of the Truist Championship, Justin Rose was caught on camera slamming his club into the ground after a bad shot. Rose recently switched to the McLaren Golf kit, and 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.

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 US 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 caddy, 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.