Earlier today on the THP Forum we broke a story about Justin Rose testing new equipment, despite being under contract with Honma Golf. Throughout the day, we spoke to many around Rose that confirmed our story.
Rose, who earlier this year switched out his driver, is now testing the rest of the clubs in his bag. While he is not a free agent, the different tour vans were building a plethora of options for the former #1 to test.
Updates came in the THP Forum and will continue over the next few days and you can follow along with all of them as they happen here. Jump into the conversation and give us your thoughts on what he will put in the bag.
Pretty sure he won the Farmers at like -21 in one of his first starts after switching
Yes he did.
My point is, it is him not the clubs and that is from a completely delusional club changer.
Wouldn’t you think he still has 4 or 5 sets of TM sticks in a house somewhere?
I switch all the time, but I sucked when I started and will still suck when I give up.
But Rose is a seasoned veteran, but maybe when things just stop working you have to change.
Good point about Speith, why has he not changed? He certainly lost the gift.
Longer the Chez with PXG at least.
Must admit I’m not hugely surprised, it seemed like an odd fit to be from the start, the cheque must have been substantial initially. Results have been poor, so whether it’s the equipment or not then a shake up might just be a case of a change being better than a rest. If I was a betting man, I would say either back to TM or Mizuno which seems like a good fit for him.
There was a pretty strong relationship in place between King, Kawaja and JR.
I signed up. Then the 747 went 17-4 ss with tungsten and the thick cavity badge like pretty much everyone else and they look, sound and feel like everything else out there.
It may just be me but I think being a little different may have worked for them if they’d stayed with it instead of trying to be in direct competition with the big boys
While not speaking to the equipment (I liked the 747 line a bit), a lot of changes took place at the company around this time internally.
I’m not giving up the feel of my 737’s for them though and I’m wondering if the significantly different direction they took would have happened without said internal changes.
Sorry I’m sure this would be more appropriate in a different thread
GO J ROSE !!!
Just spoke to someone that spent some time with JR yesterday and said “their might be some lawyers involved“.
Suffice it to say, Rose is under contract with Honma. It isnt the first time a player wanted to test the waters and try other things, but it sounds like JR wants to be free and clear.
did you respond to the text with *there
because I would have
unrelated: why don’t I have many friends?
haha I just read that post and thought the same thing. *high five*
I was wondering about this. I mentioned it in the Chez thread. I didn’t understand how they were just getting out of contracts.
Well now, this is getting curious. I have no idea why tour golfers and their equipment sponsorships and usage or change is interesting to me. But it really is interesting.
I like JR but I lose a little respect for these guys when this kind of thing happens
I think it kind of depends on the situation. Which, if I am not mistaken, we don’t know all of the details on yet. But, his goal, first and foremost, is to put the best gear in play to give himself a chance to compete. Maybe he really doesn’t feel like Honma can do that for him. Could be a lot going on behind the scenes that we will never know about. I am eager to see what else we learn. It’s something that doesn’t really happen often.
Don’t take the $
Like any contract, if he wants to violate it, he would be legally responsible to return monies that he was paid. Unless, he has claim that they didn’t hold up their end. In any event, it is not like he can just flip them the bird and ride off into the sunset with the money he got.
I hope we find out what his true motivation actually is at some point
I was thinking the exact same thing. When he left Taylormade his game took a big hit.
"I agree to play these clubs for 1 year, and based on my play & earnings, determines whether I continue playing Honma clubs."
Sounds higher maintenance than my ex wife
i’m sure that’s a reasonable item to put in the contract. but I would imagine it would significantly reduce the price honma would be willing to pay.
See, that is one of the great things about this place. I would have never known the story behind the story, rather just the impressions. Love it!
I love breaking news stories that have been out for a little while.
He has played the Axis1 for a while now. I believe he is sponsored by them
Yup. And he even played the main role in designing his Axis1
Going off memory I believe his deal with Honma is for somewhere around 8-10 clubs. But that is what I was told at the signing and I am old and might be slightly off.
10 sounds right to me.
Or sleeping in his own bed, being in his home city, etc.
Yeah who knows. So many possible reasons.
this seems different to me, at least in the early stages. But I’m sure more details will be coming out about this
Yeah, I think that was right, but my memory is….well…old. Haha
He had it going for a bit, then ran in to some issues on the 5th. Ended up playing a shot off a rock.
Ummmm….maybe the indian does have something to do with it.