Justin Rose plays without Honma clubs in Arnold Palmer Invitational pro-am

Update (3/5): Justin Rose played the first round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational with a TaylorMade SIM driver, SIM Max 3-wood, Cobra SpeedZone Tour 5-wood, TaylorMade P730 irons (4-PW) irons, TaylorMade Milled Grind 2 (52 and 56) and Titleist Vokey Design Prototype K-Grind (60 degrees) wedges, Axis1 Rose putter and TaylorMade TP5 2019 golf ball. A Honma representative confirmed to GOLF.com on Thursday morning that there wouldn’t be an official comment from the equipment manufacturer until Monday. Statements are expected from Honma and Rose at that time.

ORLANDO, Fla. — When Justin Rose came to Bay Hill on Wednesday for the Arnold Palmer Invitational Pro-Am, there was something curious about his Honma staff bag: It didn’t include a single Honma club.

Rose, who signed a multi-year deal with Honma in 2019, surprisingly started using a TaylorMade SIM driver last week at the Honda Classic instead of his new Honma TR20 driver.

As of Wednesday at Bay Hill, it appears Rose is considering switching out of his Honma irons as well. Rose had TaylorMade’s P730 irons — the same set he used during his time as a TaylorMade staffer — in the bag for the pro-am instead of the Honma TR20B irons he’s been using since the Hero World Challenge.

Rose’s bag also featured TaylorMade and Cobra metalwoods, a few Titleist, Wilson and TaylorMade wedges he was testing, and, of course, an Axis1 Golf Rose putter.

Rose departed TaylorMade at the end of 2018, after a 20-year stint with the equipment manufacturer, and promptly won his second start with Honma equipment at the 2019 Farmers Insurance Open.

In the wake of Rose’s recent changes, GOLF.com reached out to Honma representatives for comment. This post will be updated if a statement is issued.

As for Rose’s club setup at Bay Hill, we’ll have to wait and see whether he actually puts the new TaylorMade irons in play on Thursday when he tees it up alongside Rory McIlroy and Francesco Molinari at 7:54 a.m.

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