Justin Rose, world leader for the Professional Golf Association,  has stopped using Taylormade golf clubs  in favor of  Japanese manufacturer called Honma.  Taylormade has been making quality clubs since 1979. Justin Rose has been with this brand for over 20 years. As winner of the Fed Ex Cup he used the recently released Andmore 2 putter,  M3 driver, Rose Prototype irons, and Taylormade TP5 golf balls. The type and quality of the club is reflected in how the golfer performs, emphasizing the importance of having a quality club brand as a sponsor. Matt Zayas, a Lafayette High School Senior said, “I really liked the M3 driver, it felt really premium and is one of the best drivers on the market.” Taylormade is also ranked second  by pro PGA players only behind Titleist.

              The world leader for the PGA left Taylormade after using their clubs for over 20 years. This caused an uproar within his fan base, especially since he won the Fed EX cup using  Taylormade clubs.  Another popular brand Honma, is a luxurious Japanese golfing company that multiple pro lady golfers such as Shanshan Feng, Yeon Ryu, and  Sergio Garcia use. Howerver, Sergio Garcia left Taylormade and signed with Callaway  about a year ago. The PGA pro Justin Rose is looking forward  to signing with Honma, which recently created an inexpensive gold plated driver for  under $1000.

Rose has considered using the Honma Tour irons and is still unsure what golf ball he will be using, not knowing if his contract with Taylormade TP5 golf balls will still be valid. This could have major implications in the United Kingdom’s golf scene, potentially changing the trend in the UK’s younger golfers. With plenty of recent success, Rose leads the UK in both world contention and Fedex Cup points, giving him a major sphere of influence.

Scratch golfer Senior David Berry who plays for the Lafayette High School’s golf team said, “ I do not think that its is the smartest decision considering he has been using Taylormade  almost his whole career.”  Many  golfers have gone through various brand changes over the years, such as Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods, and Bubba Watson.  McIlroy and Tiger Woods  switched to Taylormade after Nike stopped making clubs. Bubba Watson switched from Titleist golf balls to Volvik, but switched back to Titleist later in his career. There is a great deal of concern with Rose’s fans expecting his world ranking to drop. When Bubba Watson  made the transition to Volvik golf balls he dropped in world ranking. After realizing the change of golf balls caused negative repercussions, Watson returned to using titleist.

Justin Rose came close to winning almost every tournament. The Fed Ex Cup is one of the most impressive tour championships in the golf world. This competition is important as it is an overall ranking of all the tour events together. “This is the most important championship in professional golf considering it takes into account all the other tournaments,” said LHS Senior and golf enthusiast George Haramis. 

In May 2018, Rose won the Fort Worth Invitational in Fort Worth, TX. He tied for second in both the 2018 Open Championship in the UK, and in the Dell Technologies Championship in Norton, MA. He climbed his way to the top of the PGA rankings using Taylormade clubs and has decided to switch after his newfound success. This situation seems to raise an important question: Will he be able to retain his number one position in the world and will he return to Taylormade golf in the future?