Justin Rose on McLaren Golf – Bringing F1's pursuit of perfection to the fairway

At the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, Justin Rose reflected on his first months as McLaren Golf's inaugural ambassador, his year spent testing prototype irons with the McLaren engineering team, and a partnership he hopes will bring Formula 1's obsession with marginal gains to his pursuit of a second major.

Cast an eye to the fringes of the tree-lined fairways at Wentworth Club, the home of this week’s BMW PGA Championship, and you may spot more papaya-clad spectators than you might expect at a golf event.

But since McLaren entered the world of golf in stunning fashion ahead of this year’s Miami Grand Prix, unveiling its first set of clubs and announcing its partnership with Justin Rose, the grandstands around the greens of the PGA and DP World Tours are starting to look a little brighter – not least at the historic venue to the west of London where the concept of the Ryder Cup was first proposed in 1926.

Wentworth is a mere 15-minute drive from the McLaren Technology Centre, and with Rose also based locally, it is as much a ‘home’ tournament for the player as it is for his new clubs.

Back in April, the launch of McLaren Golf, with Rose as their first global ambassador and investor, turned heads just as intended on both the grid and the greens. The 46-year-old immediately switched out his clubs for the PGA Tour’s Cadillac Championship, also in Miami that week.

'Scrapping for the finest of margins'

“I’m loving it,” says Rose, the 2013 US Open champion and Rio 2016 Olympic gold medallist. Even as one of a handful of players on tour over the age of 40, he continues to contend at the majors: runner-up finishes at The Open in 2024 and the Masters in 2025 were followed by a tie for third at Augusta in 2026.

No doubt part of Rose’s calculation in linking up with McLaren is the hope of converting those near-misses into victories.

“The culture around F1 is all about scrapping for the finest of margins when every millisecond counts,” Rose continues. “Hopefully that’s a good ethos to bring into the golf world as well.”

He admits, “My brother’s the petrolhead of our family,” before adding, “I could claim myself to be a Drive to Survive bandwagon fan, but I was very aware of F1 growing up.

"We’ve been spoilt in the UK – it’s always been a sport we’ve been successful at, with great drivers through the years; Lewis [Hamilton], of course, and so many before him.

“But in recent years, living so close to Woking and the MTC, and being asked to be involved on the McLaren advisory board, has given me much greater appreciation of the sport. And it’s been nice getting to know Zak [Brown], Lando [Norris] and the boys. When you know people personally, you start to pay more attention.”

Irons in the fire

Naturally, McLaren’s fans have embraced Rose as one of their own with the 46-year-old joining McLaren CEO Brown for Wednesday’s pro-am event; Norris, an avid golfer, was also slated to play, only for a sore back to leave him watching from the sidelines.

But even with his F1 stablemates elsewhere as the first round began on Thursday, McLaren caps and polos were a regular feature among the spectators huddled near the tee boxes and greens.

While Rose’s papaya McLaren bag has certainly caught the eye since April, his new clubs have sparked the most discussion. The former World No.1 was instrumental in the development and testing of the prototype range of irons, working with McLaren’s engineers for over a year before debuting the clubs on the professional stage.

What really excites him is what comes next: helping to develop McLaren Golf’s first drivers and woods, where applying the full weight of McLaren’s world-class research, design, and engineering expertise will truly unlock the project’s full potential.

“The irons project, which is the first venture, is a little bit more straightforward, [but that’s] not to say that we’re not doing anything differently,” explains Rose.

“It’s cool that McLaren have come to market with metal-injection moulded irons. It is not necessarily a new process, but it’s a new way for someone to build the clubs start to finish.

“Once we get into the metal woods, the fairway woods, and the drivers, that’s when the wind tunnel, the algorithmic building, CADs and aerodynamic science will be very valuable to us.”

Shared sporting DNA

At first glance, Formula 1 and golf may appear to live at opposing ends of the sporting spectrum; Oscar Piastri’s mother Nicole once said she wished her son had pursued a career in either golf or tennis for the sake of her nerves, but could not stand in the way of his F1 dreams.

But there are parallels, not least in the mentality, concentration, problem-solving and precision under pressure required from its protagonists. But while Norris is an ardent golfer in his spare time, ask Rose if he would ever want to trade places with him or Piastri, and his response suggests he won’t be swapping fairways for the pit lane any time soon.

“It’s phenomenal what they do,” Rose says. “I think we all think we’re okay behind the wheel, but then you get an understanding of where your limits are in a car, and it’s not where their limits are. It’s scary, actually, to see what they can do in a machine like that.

“My only experience is being taken on a hot lap in a McLaren, not even an F1 car. To see what those boys are capable of is quite frightening and awe-inspiring. But keep that on the track!”