What’s In The Bag: Justin Rose

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What’s in Justin Rose’s golf bag for 2023? We delve into the Englishman’s equipment as he returns to the winner’s circle for the first time in four years.

Jump To: WITB Rose | Equipment History

It’s been quite the golf equipment rollercoaster for Justin Rose in recent years.

Having spent the best part of two decades with TaylorMade, the Englishman parted ways with the equipment giant at the end of 2018 to take more control of the design of his golf clubs, signing a 10-club multi-year deal with premium Japanese manufacturer Honma at the start of 2019.

Today's Golfer What's In The Bag is brought to you in association with Callaway Chrome Tour and Chrome Tour X golf balls.

Their relationship got off to a flying start as Rose, the then World No.1, won his 10th PGA Tour title at the Farmers Insurance Open in only his second outing with his new clubs.

Justin Rose won the 2019 Farmers Insurance Open in his second start with Honma clubs.

Rose’s Honma split

After the initial success, a dip in form and slide down the rankings followed and the former US Open champion’s split with Honma was made official in May 2020. Since then he’s remained an equipment-free agent, picking and choosing the equipment in his bag and playing a huge variety of brands, including TaylorMade, Cobra, Titleist, and Callaway. Despite that, his winless streak had extended beyond four years, dating back to the 2019 Farmers Insurance Open.

But Rose showed that class is permanent as he lifted the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am – his 11th PGA Tour title – securing his place in the field for the Masters and giving him hope of a return to Europe’s Ryder Cup team for the match in Italy.

Justin Rose, Henrik Stenson and Matt Kuchar won the gold, silver and bronze men's golf medals respectively at the Rio 2016 Olympics but haven't qualified for Tokyo 2020.

The Olympic gold medalist and 2013 US Open Champion, who Today’s Golfer also named one of the 100 most influential people in golf, was subsequently given that opportunity by Captain Luke Donald and went on to represent Team Europe for the sixth time.

Rose has recently switched to a TaylorMade M3 driver, replacing a Callaway Paradym model, alongside his trusty TaylorMade M6 fairway woods. His mixed bag includes Cobra’s new King Tour irons, TaylorMade Milled Grind Hi-Toe wedges, and a Titleist Pro V1 Left Dot golf ball.

Justin Rose in Rome for 2023 Ryder Cup practice day

Let’s take a look inside the bag of the European Ryder Cup hero in 2023…

WITB Justin Rose 2023

What driver does Justin Rose use?

Justin Rose uses a TaylorMade M3 driver (8.5°) with a Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro Orange 70 TX shaft

Price: 479.00 / $499.00 RRP
It might be five years old, but Rose has shown that age is nothing but a number here, swapping in the M3 in place of a Callaway Paradym driver.

Bought to market in 2018, the M3 driver was TaylorMade's most adjustable driver. The brand created a new face concept that aimed to minimize off-center hits and allows you to hit straighter, longer shots thanks to a larger sweet spot. 

Read our full TaylorMade M3 driver review.
Lofts 8.5°, 9.5°, 10.5° & 12°
Stock shafts Tensei CK Red (high launch), Blue (mid launch) or White (low launch) shafts in R, S & X flexes
Adjustable hosel Yes

What fairway woods does Justin Rose use?

Justin Rose uses TaylorMade M6 fairway woods (15°, 18°) with Project X HZRDUS Smoke Black RDX 80 TX shafts

Price: 269.00 / $249.99 RRP
TaylorMade has made fast-faced fairways since 2012, and for the first time in 2019, both the M6 and M5 come with TwistFace tech, which helps straighten high-toe and low-heel mishits for straighter, more accurate shots.

The M6’s head is a little bigger to ramp up forgiveness and our test pro said it felt extremely hot and powerful. That was before we checked our data and spotted the M6 (with a 153mph ball speed) was our fastest fairway of 2019.

Read our full TaylorMade M6 fairway woods review.
Lofts 3 - 14° / 3 - 15° / 5 - 18° / 7 - 21° / 9 - 24°
Stock shaft Fujikura Atmos Orange 6 / 5
Adjustable hosel No

What irons does Justin Rose use?

Justin Rose uses Cobra King CB (4-6), and MB irons (7-PW), all with Project X 125 6.5 shafts

Price: 140.00 / $171.00 RRP per club
Cobra offers a brilliant family of forged irons this year, and having the ability to combo any of the brand’s five forged iron models (MB, CB, Tour, Forged Tec, and Forged Tec X) is a massive plus. It means you can get a great looking, feeling, and performing set without putting stress on any area of your game.

The Cobra King MB irons are sleek, classic blades and, thanks to being forged five times, they offer a feel to rival the very best. If you're a very good player, these could well be the best Cobra irons for you.

Those who want a blade but still fancy some forgiveness will be pleased to hear the Cobra King MB irons saw a carry distance drop-off of just 6 yards on mis-hit shots, which is markedly better than the 9.1-yard average across all the blades we tested.

Read our full Cobra King MB iron review. Check out the best Cobra irons.

Pros

Cons

Stock shaft KBS $-Taper 120 Steel
7-iron loft 34°
Availability 3-PW
Stock grip Lamkin Crossline

What wedges does Justin Rose use?

Justin Rose uses TaylorMade Milled Grind 4 wedges (52°-09SB, 56°-08LB, 60°-09SBC)

Price: 159.00 / $179.99 RRP
TaylorMade has revealed the new MG4 wedges. They’re the 4th generation of the franchise, which speaks volumes about how far the company has come. It also proves their longevity theory is working.

Read our full TaylorMade Milled Grind 4 wedges review.

Pros

Cons

Highest loft 60°
Standard bounce 46° / 48° / 50° / 52° / 54° / 56° / 58° / 60°
Low bounce 56° / 58° / 60°
Tiger grind 56° / 60°

What putter does Justin Rose use?

Justin Rose uses an Axis1 Rose Proto putter with a Lamkin Sinkfit Pistolclaw grip

Price: 449.00 / $449.00 RRP
Amid all the equipment changes, one thing that has remained the same is Justin Rose’s Axis1 putter – the flatstick that helped him jump from 187th to 3rd for his best-ever year in the PGA Tour putting stats.

Read our full Axis1 Rose putter review.
Head-type Mallet
Weight 355g
Stock grip Lamkin Deep Etched Paddle Grip

What golf ball does Justin Rose use?

Justin Rose uses a Titleist Pro V1 Left Dot golf ball

Best premium tour standard golf balls
Price: £50.00 / $55.00 RRP
Titleist has been manufacturing iterations of the Pro V1 and Pro V1x since the early 2000s and over time they have continuously increased in popularity - both on Tour and in the amateur game. Having amassed over 3000 Tour victories the Titleist Pro V1 and Pro V1x are the most successful golf balls in the professional game. From these golf balls, you get a reliable flight and ultimately a ball you can trust to perform well.

Both balls are extremely long off the tee and perform incredibly well approaching greens and in the short game. The Pro V1x is a firmer ball compared to the Pro V1 but still provides a lovely feel off every club in the bag. The Pro V1 and Pro V1x are much loved by many of the world's greatest golfers for their overall high-quality performance and feel, which warrants a premium price. To some, this is understandable because they are arguably the best golf balls.

For those golfers who require a lower compression golf ball that flies lower and spins less in the long game, the AVX is definitely worth trying as an alternative to the No.1 ball in golf.

Read our full Titleist Pro V1 review.

Pros

  • Tighter dispersion than the previous model
  • Brilliant distance for quicker swing speeds
  • Exceptional spin on approach shots
  • Fantastic feel off the club face
  • Played by a host of the world's best golfers

Cons

  • Urethane cover marks quite easily
Construction Pro V1 - 3-piece | Pro V1x 4-piece
Cover Cast urethane elastomer
Compression Pro V1 - 87-90 | Pro V1x - 97-100
Dimples Pro V1 - 388 | Pro V1x - 348
Feel Pro V1 - soft | Pro V1x - firm
Flight Pro V1 - mid | Pro V1x - high
Long game spin Pro V1 - very low | Pro V1x - low
Short game spin High
Color options White; Yellow
Alternative models Pro V1x Left Dash
  • High gradient core design
  • Speed amplifying high-flex casing layer
  • Cast thermoset urethane cover
  • Spherically tiled tetrahedral dimple design
  • New dual-core dimension (Pro V1x only)

Rose’s Equipment History

Late switch

Victory at Pebble came with a set of Cobra irons that Rose had not even tried before the Tuesday of tournament week.

According to Ben Schomin, PGA Tour rep for Cobra, Rose approached him on the range and asked to try the new models having heard positive feedback about them.

“I’ve known Justin for a number of years,” Schomin said. “People forget he used to play our clubs when he was a teenager, so it was a little full circle. We built him a combo set and dropped them off late Wednesday morning. About 15 to 20 minutes later his coach tapped me on the shoulder and asked if I could see Justin. He really liked the clubs but needed an adjustment on the grips. He also wanted to try a new shaft.”

With the clock ticking before Cobra’s tour truck had to leave the grounds on Wednesday, Schomin quickly put together a combo set of the King Tour, King CB, and King MB.

“He was hitting his numbers and ball-flight windows but was really flushing the 4-iron,” said Schomin. “He liked the feel of the new shafts, too.”

Stable Axis

Amid all the equipment changes, one thing that has remained the same is Justin Rose’s Axis1 putter – the flatstick that helped him jump from 187th to 3rd for his best-ever year in the PGA Tour putting stats.

The putters have weight pushed forward with a patented heel counterweight, making them perfectly balanced and ensuring they won’t naturally open up during your putting stroke.

But with no presence on any of golf’s Tours, how did an Axis1 putter end up in the hands of Justin Rose? We sat down with Luis Pedraza, the company’s founder, to find out the story behind his putters and how a hopeful question helped him sign the then World No.1.

Luis Pedraza, founder of Axis1, and the Rose Proto putter.

I’ve designed many products over my career, including in-ear wireless headsets, medical equipment and the controller that steered the Mars rover.

I have a degree in Industrial Design, and I’ve worked on designing medical equipment, consumer products and computing accessories. My area of expertise is ergonomics, so I primarily focus on making products easy and intuitive to use, while ensuring they’re aesthetically pleasing. A lot of product design is being able to see what nobody else can and then having the vision to make it better.

It wasn’t until I sat my Ping Anser putter down on a green that I noticed how it naturally wanted to fall open.

I was like, ‘hell that’s kind of silly, why can’t a putter hold its line?’ When I returned home I started to experiment with some rough prototype ideas to solve the issue. The more I explored the idea the more I felt there was something worthwhile in what I was doing and before long I filed for provisional patents. I kept pushing and before I knew it, we were at the PGA Show in Orlando winning ‘Best in Show’ for our new perfectly balanced putter.

We had such a radical design we had to learn to live with the “If your perfect balance putter technology is so good why are the best players not using it?” questions.

Axis1 was just a start-up company and we were trying to make inroads against multi-million-dollar companies, who pay players handsomely to use their equipment. Golf is a game with a pyramid of influence, and, in the US, many golfers want to play what the top marquee players are using.

Justin Rose with his Axis1 putter.

‘Hey Justin want to try something you’ve never seen before?’       

I was working hard to break through so at a PGA Tour event when I saw Justin Rose and his caddie approaching, I decided to try my luck and just asked him that question. He stopped, laughed and said “Ok, what do you have?” I quickly explained the physics behind our idea, and what was really cool was that he instantly understood it.

Justin Rose instantly realized the potential of the science and physics behind the Axis1 putter… it doesn’t twist.

That day he took a putter to try and asked if he could keep it for a while. A few tournaments later we caught up again, this time he called Graeme MacDowell over and started telling him all about the physics. Then he asked if I could make a mallet putter using my perfectly balanced hosel design (we only had blade styles at the time). I came home and assembled a mallet by grinding down the back of an existing model, 3D printing a new back and screwing it all together, hoping it would look like one integrated model.

The first week Justin Rose put the Axis1 putter in play was during the Fed-Ex Cup finals in 2017.  

The first day Justin had the putter, I left him and Mark Fulcher, his caddie alone. I came back after an hour and he was still on the putting green practicing with it. I went about my business during the day and came back at the close of play and they were still there on the putting green. I couldn’t believe it when Mark came over and said “I think it’s going into play”. Justin putted the lights out that week. He finished 1st in four different putting categories and picked up + .537 strokes per round.

Justin Rose shows putting coach Phil Kenyon his Axis1 putter.

It was heartbreaking that contractual agreements meant Justin couldn’t continue to use the Axis1 at that time.

We were gutted, I didn’t know where to turn next. We were a small company trying to survive and all of a sudden I’ve got Justin Rose interested in using an Axis1 putter. I had to keep going and make it work.

A little smaller, a touch narrower, more like his current putter.

That was the start of our iterative process. I would meet Justin at a tournament and show him a new prototype and he would roll it and give me feedback. The first Axis1 model he played was a little wide, so he wanted a narrower and smaller head. But at the same time, I constantly had to work on maintaining the properties of our perfectly balanced technology. It was a huge amount of work going back and forth. Justin is a study of his equipment, we dialled down weight a little, the sound and acoustics took time to perfect, every shape, angle and shadow of the putter had to be worked around for him, his attention to detail is incredible. Justin can tell a 2g weight differential and let you know whether it’s at the head or grip end. Ultimately, he had to feel like a sharpshooter with our putter.

At the end of 2018, I had met Justin Rose at five events. I’d been to the Bahamas and the British Masters with him and we still weren’t quite sure we’d nailed it.  

Justin kept telling me how he likes to feel locked in when he puts the putter behind the ball, and he felt there was just a little too much movement with the model we’d created together. So, we set about massaging the underside of the putter for him.

The Axis1 Rose Proto putter.

In January 2019 at Palm Desert I walked up to see Justin with my last prototype and I pretty much knew this was our last chance to get it right.       

He started putting with it and he was draining everything on the putting green. His caddie was winking to say he really likes this one. We went through a checklist to ensure he was happy with everything from the feel, aesthetics and sound and finally used a laser to check his alignment. From 20 feet he was aiming at a tee peg where he and his caddie thought the putt would break from and he was spot on every time. It was truly unbelievable.

We made up to 10 dramatically different prototypes.  

In all Justin has probably had 20 putters from us and they’ve been spaced over four different models. Every prototype is CNC Milled from a block of steel and is a one-off, so they’re a very time-consuming proposition, but we felt having the then World No.1 could move the needle for us. To develop each, you have to factor in CAD modeling and CAD engineering time plus a machinist. Then once we got past that first initial crude model we had to work towards something that could be brought to production.

Signing the World No.1 golfer to Axis1 still hasn’t really sunk in. 

I still pinch myself, the likelihood of a small company getting anywhere near one of the World’s Top-10 golfers, who are all on huge contracts, just doesn’t happen. I think Justin Rose likes the final model because he’s had so much input to it, and he had a phenomenal year putting. He also likes that he’s the player that spotted the potential of our perfectly balanced technology, due to his deep understanding of the game.

The Axis1 Rose Proto putter.

With Axis1 putters you hit the ball right on the center of gravity, because the shaft axis goes through that same point there isn’t any twisting.  

Even if you hit our putters off-center, there’s such a small amount of twisting that it’s almost imperceptible, which isn’t the case with other putters. Think about face-balanced putters. The industry says they’re balanced so the face points upwards towards the sky. It’s a lovely story but we don’t putt to a hole in the sky. At address and during the stroke, even face-balanced putters want to turn 90° from where you’re aiming, that’s what you’re fighting with all putters, but you don’t have to with Axis1 models.

Our patent is for the heel counterweight. It protects our idea and is why you don’t see others using the same technology.

Our perfectly balanced putters wouldn’t work without our hosel counterweight. We are the first company in golf to put the center of gravity exactly on the center of the putter face. You can only get that by using a heel counterweight, which then allows you to have the shaft axis running through the same point, which essentially marries everything together. We can develop endless putter head shapes, but it’s the heel that no one can copy.

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