NEWS FROM THE TOUR VANS
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The Range Rat has been searching for equipment odds and ends in the aftermath of Europe’s Ryder Cup victory over the Americans. One that caught our eye was the continuing gear journey of Justin Rose.
We have to tip our cap to the 43-year-old Rose, the oldest player on either side by about seven years. Though his 1-1-1 record didn’t garner many headlines, Rose served a vital role in shepherding rookie Robert MacIntyre. The partners stole a critical half-point late on Friday evening when Rose made a key putt on the 18th hole and immediately started pointing at each of his teammates in celebration. A day later, Rose and MacIntyre thwarted an American sweep in the Saturday afternoon four-balls session as they defeated Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas, 3 and 2.
Rose made a driver switch before the Ryder Cup, opting for a 9-degree Titleist TSR3. He was one of 10 players in the match who used a Titleist driver, and he was one of five players who did so sans an equipment deal with the brand (MacIntyre, Matt Fitzpatrick, Ludvig Åberg and Patrick Cantlay were the others).
It came as something of a surprise because Rose started the year with a TaylorMade M2, won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am with a Callaway Paradym driver and then would later go to a TaylorMade M3. He has been fickle with his driver in the past few years, notably leaving TaylorMade for a puzzling deal with little-known Japanese manufacturer Honma in 2019. He has struggled with his driver in the past three PGA Tour seasons, ranking no better than No. 95 in strokes gained off-the-tee. However, he had an encouraging performance in the Ryder Cup, gaining nearly a shot off-the-tee against 23 of the best players in the world.
One area where he has been consistently excelling is on the greens. Rose was No. 20 and No. 29 in strokes gained putting on the tour in the last two seasons – and he was even better at the Ryder Cup, leading all players in the statistic. Since 2019, Rose has led the cumulative strokes gained putting stat for all major championships; he was No. 1 in the category at this year’s Masters.
The success coincides with a bold move to the Axis1 Rose putter in 2019. The unusual-looking flatstick has a heel counterweight sticking out ahead of the face, allowing for the center of gravity to align perfectly with the axis of the shaft. If you were to balance the club horizontally, the toe sticks straight up – that is the opposite of most putters on which the toe will face down.
Long story short: the design and “perfect balance” keep the clubface square and is meant to be played with a straight-back-and-straight-through stroke. Rose clearly has mastered the move.
We find it interesting that Rose spent the bulk of his professional career with TaylorMade but since has been willing to experiment with Honma and Axis1, in addition to carving out his own space as a gear free agent who has tinkered all throughout his bag.
There are only three players 40 or older who are ranked in the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking. Rose, Lucas Glover and Adam Scott are all 43 years old, and all three have made sizable gear changes to reinvent themselves.
If you want to keep up with the kids, finding every advantage possible is mandatory.
Sean Fairholm