Last week, at the PGA Tour’s Cadillac Championship, the golf world was buzzing not only because of the way Cameron Young dominated the tournament – a six-shot win over world No1 Scottie Scheffler is an imperious performance – but also because of what Justin Rose was trying to do at the Blue Monster.
The Englishman, who just recently made another determined run at the Masters at age 45 before finishing tied third, was eventually tied 65th in the 72-man Signature Event – not his finest effort, but all eyes were on him throughout the week.
Rose was in the spotlight because he was playing his first tournament with the newly launched McLaren golf club.
Yes, the same McLaren that is known for its super-fast drives on the roads, is now trying to make super-straight and super-long irons. Drivers and wedges are expected to join the line-up soon, followed by putters.
The second-most successful team in the history of F1, behind Ferrari, the British carmaker has diversified into golf equipment. It’s only limited to irons and pitching wedge at the moment, but the company is reportedly working on drivers, fairway woods, wedges and putters as well. There are also talks about golf balls, but that will take some time.
Rose has been joined by LIV Golf star Ian Poulter, a fellow Brit and a proven petrolhead, and American LPGA star Michele Wie West, as the first announced brand ambassadors.
It remains to be seen how the clubs do in the market, but they are already making heads turn with their price tag – each iron is individually priced at $375 in the US, and GBP360 in the UK. So, for a full set of McLaren irons (from 4-iron to pitching wedge), you will have to shell out $2625 in the US, and GBP2520 in the UK. That’s INR2,50,000 just for the irons. You will obviously need a driver, fairway woods, a couple of wedges and a putter after that.
For comparison, the new TaylorMade P∙790 irons (4-iron to PW) – one of the bestselling irons since 2025 – cost around $1,400 (INR1,33,100).
Golf equipment is an extremely high-tech, niche, and a very R&D-intensive business. However, if there is one sport that can make a major difference to the way business is done, auto-racing companies seem tailor-made for this.
There are a few things that McLaren Golf seems to have done well already. It has hired Niel Howie as its CEO. An industry veteran with nearly three decades of experience heading Callaway’s business in Europe, Howie knows how to sell golf clubs.
On how McLaren clubs will be different, Howie said: “Behind the scenes, we challenged every part of the process – from materials to construction – to uphold the exacting standards and constant pursuit of excellence that define McLaren. To now introduce these irons to the world and see them in the hands of golfers is incredibly exciting.”
McLaren Racing works out of Woking in the UK, but McLaren Golf will be based in Carlsbad, California, which is considered the Mecca of golf equipment. Among manufacturers based there are Callaway, TaylorMade, Cobra Golf, Titleist, as well as golf technology companies. It’s always good to be in the heat of the action.
Rose has been an integral part of the development process of one of the two models they have launched – Series 1, which are blades for serious golfers and professionals. Series 3, which are cavity-back clubs that are more forgiving, are the other clubs.
Rose’s tied 65th place at Cadillac is not the best advertisement for the clubs, but we know how difficult it can become to transition from one make of clubs to another.
We have done two in-depth stories here with Indian golfers on how their fortunes changed because of the slightest of changes in their clubs. There was Anirban Lahiri, who finished second at the Players Championship in 2022 after adding 3.5 grams of lead to his irons, and then there was Shubhankar Sharma’s more than a year-long search for shafts that matched his new swing speed and clubs.
What I will be more interested in is when McLaren introduces golf balls. That could be a complete gamechanger. It is well known how much a racing car like McLaren depends on reducing the drag and implementing the studies from its advanced wind tunnels and material research. Whenever McLaren launches its new golf balls, it would be an event everyone will sit up and watch.
