McLaren Golf has backed up its launch into the golf equipment market by announcing the signing of world No.5 Justin Rose to become a brand ambassador, as well as being an investor in the start-up business.
Rose has put a set of McLaren’s new Series 1 irons (pictured right) into his bag for his appearance at this week’s PGA Tour event, the Cadillac Championship, while keeping the same set up of woods and putter. He was previously a free agent with regards to his clubs, with no overall equipment deal in place.
As part of the new sponsorship package, Rose will also wear the McLaren Golf logo on his apparel and have a custom McLaren Golf bag in papaya orange, the Mclaren F1 team’s racing colours.
Rose said he has been involved with the development of the clubs for over year, ahead of McLaren Golf’s official launch in Miami yesterday [April 29].
“The clubs are feeling great,” Rose said in an interview he gave ahead of the Cadillac Championship. “Obviously a lot of my own preferences have gone into the irons that I’m playing. I’m excited to finally get them in the bag and just enjoy playing with them for the rest of the season.”
He added: “I’ve learned so much from being brand agnostic for a while that I kind of have my own preference list now. I feel like I’m in an environment where I can take all my preferences to one place where they can execute on that for me,” Rose said. “So, from my point of view, I’m actually looking at what can be better. I’m looking to mitigate risk. I’ve done this once before, in 2019 [with Honma], and I learned a lot from that process. So I feel I’m in bit of a better place to go down this path.”
McLaren Golf has also announced the signing of LIV Golfer Ian Poulter and 2014 US Women’s Open champion Michelle Wie as brand ambassadors and investors.
Poulter, 50, is famously a massive Ferrari fan, owning several of the company’s cars, but the Ryder Cup star, who has slipped down to 4,973rd in the world ranking following his switch to LIV, has put his super car allegiance to one side in order to support McLaren’s entry into the golf market.
Wie, 36, who is a five-time LPGA Tour winner, officially retired from playing professional golf in 2023, but is coming out of retirement temporarily to play in the Mizuho Americas Open in New Jersey on May 7-10, a tournament Wie hosts, and the Women’s US Open in June. After winning the championship in 2014, Wie was granted an extension to her 10-year exemption due to being away from the game on maternity leave in 2020, so is eligible for the event despite it being 12 years since her win.
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