Justin Rose on his impromptu equipment switches before Pebble win

Justin Rose, who won the FedExCup and reached No. 1 in the world ranking in 2018, finally broke a four-year winless drought two weeks ago at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. During that span between his most recent victories, Rose underwent a roller-coaster of equipment changes and experimentation, constantly searching for ways to improve.

“From a professional point of view, obviously you could look at equipment changes, caddie changes, coaching changes, all of those do… make a difference, but you make those decisions thinking you're making a difference in a positive direction,” Rose said Tuesday in his pre-tournament press conference from The Genesis Invitational, where he is making his first start since his win at Pebble Beach. “Obviously with the benefit of hindsight you could look at many of those decisions and think they didn't always take me in the direction I wanted. I kind of feel like when you make a decision or two that don't go your way, you sometimes have to make more good decisions to right the ship. Hopefully that's what I've been trying to do of late…I always believe that I can be a better golfer tomorrow than I am today and I think that's the main motivation that I have.”

Ultimately, his relentless commitment to finding the right equipment proved successful.

Since becoming an equipment-free agent in 2020, Rose has had the flexibility to test any golf clubs from any brand that he wanted (aside from a putter partnership with Axis1, which he inked in 2020 after winning with an Axis1 Rose proto putter in 2019).

And, since 2020, Rose has fully exercised his right to that equipment flexibility. Last season alone, GolfWRX.com spotted him using irons made by TaylorMade, Titleist, Mizuno, Srixon, and Miura.

During his winning week at Pebble Beach, however, Rose introduced a brand new set of 2023 Cobra King irons into his arsenal. In a recent Instagram post, Rose called it an “impromptu” switch.

Although the set of Cobra irons was new for him, he was actually inspired to make the change by looking back at his 2013 U.S. Open-winning set of irons. Back then, he used a combo set that consisted of TaylorMade Rocketballz cavity back long irons and TaylorMade MB short irons (combo sets are particularly helpful to players who want to take advantage of forgiveness and higher trajectory in the long irons, and greater precision with the short irons).

In search of a new combo set, Rose was particularly interested in trying a mixed set of Cobra King irons after looking into the bags of a few of his PGA TOUR peers.

According to Ben Schomin, Cobra’s Tour Operations Manager, Rose didn’t begin testing the new irons until the day before the opening round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. It was a very last-minute switch, but Schomin said Rose was sold on the irons after about just 20 swings.

After a bit of on-site experimentation, Rose ended up deciding to use a set that consisted of a Cobra King Forged Tour 4-iron, Cobra King CB mid-irons (5- and 6-iron) and Cobra King MB short irons (7-PW).

He also switched up his iron shafts, too. In order to achieve a slightly softer feel than his previous KBS Tour C-Taper 125 S+ shafts, especially when hitting three-quarter shots, he switched into a set of Project X 6.5 shafts in the new Cobra iron heads.

Speaking of last-minute changes, Rose also revealed that he made a mid-event fairway wood switch at Pebble Beach. He started the tournament using a Callaway Paradym 3-wood but later switched into his familiar TaylorMade M6 3-wood. Rose also used that TaylorMade M6 3-wood is his last win before Pebble Beach, the 2019 Farmers Insurance Open. He also used the same Axis1 Rose proto putter in both his 2019 and 2023 victories in California.

As a true tinkerer, Rose did more testing earlier this week but he will likely use the same winning set that he employed at Pebble Beach (although he did re-grip his clubs, according to Schomin).

Check out Rose’s full setup at the Genesis Invitational below.

Driver: Callaway Paradym (8.5 degrees)

Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X

Fairway Woods: TaylorMade M6 (15 and 18 degrees)

Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ Limited 80 TX

Irons: Cobra King Forged Tour (4); Cobra King CB (5-6); Cobra King MB (7-PW)

Shafts: Project X 6.5

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM9 (52-12F, 56-08M), TaylorMade Milled Grind Hi-Toe (60-07)

Shafts: KBS Hi-Rev 2.0 135X

Putter: Axis1 Rose

Grip: Lamkin PistolClaw