Justin Rose Splits With Honma

Rose and Honma have officially parted ways after just over a year together

Justin Rose Splits With Honma

Justin Rose has split with equipment manufacturer Honma after just over a year with the Japanese company.

The Englishman signed a 10-club deal with Honma at the beginning of 2019 whilst World No.1, but the two parties will no longer be working together.

This news comes as no huge surprise after Rose arrived at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March without a single Honma club in the bag.

That continued at The Players Championship, where the 2013 US Open champion had gone back to his TaylorMade P730 irons and TaylorMade wedges.

In his last start at Sawgrass, Rose had the TaylorMade SIM driver, SIM Max 3 wood, a Cobra Speedzone Tour 5 wood, TaylorMade P730 irons, TaylorMade Milled Grind 2 wedges, a Titleist lob wedge and his Axis1 putter.

Honma said in a statement:

“Honma Golf Limited (“Honma”) announces that, following a successful partnership with the former No. 1 player in the world, Honma and Justin Rose have agreed that Justin will no longer be one of Honma’s brand ambassadors. We are proud to have been a key part of Justin’s journey to regain his position as World Number 1 in early 2019, including a win at the Farmers Insurance Open in his second event with Honma equipment in play.

“For over a year, Justin worked closely with our team to help develop innovative and top performing lines of Honma woods and irons. His pursuit of perfection, approach to product testing and feedback has produced great value to Honma. Justin’s expert input and desire for maximum ball speed inspired our team to make the Honma TR20 460 and 440 drivers among the fastest drivers in the game. Consistently, and excitingly, our nationwide team of fitters are seeing the new TR20 460 and TR20 440 drivers produce some of the fastest speeds on the market. We wish him the very best in his pursuit of more majors and career success,” said John Kawaja, president of Honma Golf North America.”

Justin Rose said in a statement:

“I have enjoyed working with the Honma team and collaborating closely with them to design and develop excellent golf equipment. I was able to see firsthand the innovations that the craftsmen at Honma bring to their clubs. I am hopeful that during our time of partnership, we have laid the groundwork for Honma to continue to expand their brand. We both feel it is the right time to pursue our own paths.”

Rose initially put the TW747 driver in play in 2019 as well as Rose Proto blades and Rose Proto wedges.

He combined those with TaylorMade fairway woods, a Titleist lob wedge and an Axis1 putter, whom he has signed a deal with, as well as the TaylorMade TP5 ball.

The Englishman had a poor 2019 by his high standards and, after a 2nd place at the Singapore Open in January, started his PGA Tour calendar year with a run of MC-T56-MC-MC.

Up until 2019, Rose had used TaylorMade clubs since turning pro in the late 90s but left the company at the end of 2018 for more freedom with his equipment.

It appears he'll now go down the free agent route that has been so successful for the likes of Brooks Koepka and Tommy Fleetwood, with both men choosing to play whichever equipment they please since Nike stopping making clubs in August 2016.

With the PGA Tour returning in a few weeks, it will be interesting to see if Rose has made any further changes to his bag or whether he will sign with another manufacturer.

The 2016 Olympic Gold Medalist is currently 14th in the world.

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