Justin Rose made up eight shots on Dustin Johnson to win the WGC-HSBC Champions, matching the third-largest final-round comeback in US PGA Tour history. Rose completed the rally with a final-nine 31 featuring five birdies, including a key 5-iron tee shot on the par-3 17th hole that finished within tap-in distance for a crucial birdie.
“We were playing into what we felt was like a 10-mile-an-hour wind, or what we gauged to be a 10-mile-an-hour wind, and it just fit perfectly for our 5-iron,” Rose said. “I knew I had to hit a 5-iron that climbed up into the breeze. It wasn’t a 5-iron I was trying to trap. I was trying to let the wind hold it up.”
That shot was hit with a TaylorMade P730 Rose prototype iron, a muscleback blade model that has been employed by other TaylorMade staffers, including Rory McIlroy and Johnson. Rose’s fine play over the final nine allowed him to finish T-3 in greens in regulation for the week.
Rose also made a putter change, switching to the company’s TP Ardmore 2 Red, a mallet-style putter with “wings” in the back to add stability. The putter features a 6061 aluminium version of TaylorMade’s grooved face insert with the combination of the grooves’ 45-degree angle and polymer filling work to improve roll and feel.
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“I played one of the best back nines I’ve played in forever,” Rose said. “To shoot 31 on the back to come through, [I] saved my best till last.”
The clubs Justin Rose had in the bag at the WGC-HSBC Champions:
Ball: TaylorMade TP5
Driver: TaylorMade M1 460 2017, 9.5 degrees
3-wood: TaylorMade M2, 15 degrees
5-wood: TaylorMade M1, 19 degrees
Irons (4): TaylorMade P790; (5-PW): TaylorMade P730 Rose prototype
Wedges: TaylorMade Milled Grind (52, 56, 60 degrees)
Putter: TaylorMade TP Ardmore 2 Red
