​Photo by James Gilbert/PGA TOUR via Getty ImagesThe biggest story of Justin Rose’s season has been his surprise switch to McLaren golf. The 46-year-old made a midseason switch to become the face of the new club manufacturer, changing all of his irons to McLarens. It was a huge gamble, as Rose was in the midst of a late-season resurgence and was just in the mix to win The Masters.Since changing his clubs, Rose hasn’t been in contention. Off the back of an incredible year in 2025, where he was in a playoff at Augusta and won the FedEx St Jude, and a great start to this season where he won the Farmers Insurance Open, this seemed like a massive own goal.Rose responded to his critics after his opening round of the BMW Championship with a video of him sticking an iron shot close, with the caption, “Iron play is just fine… for those that are asking!!!”It was a strange time to post this, considering he lost strokes to the field on approach during the round. But when you dive into the season-long numbers, Rose’s switch to McLaren clubs has been more successful than you might think.Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty ImagesJustin Rose has been a better iron player with his McLaren clubs Contrary to the narrative surrounding Rose’s club change, he has actually been a better iron player this season than he was even last year.In 2025, he hit 64% of greens in regulation. This year, he’s hitting 69%. In 2025, his shots averaged out at 38.4 feet to the hole. This season it’s 38 feet. Last year, he gained 0.5 strokes to the field on approach. It’s 0.82 this year.Most of the numbers show that Rose’s move to McLaren clubs was exactly the right call. So why does the narrative tell us otherwise?Firstly, his results have tapered off slightly. Rose was on an incredible hot streak before making this move, having won at Torrey Pines and contended at The Masters. He’s only been in the top 10 once since then.But it’s not the fault of his iron play. It’s actually Rose’s short game which has cost him lately. He’s lost strokes to the field around the green for the first time since 2022 this season, and his putting has fallen off slightly too.Rose’s approach play has been consistently solid all year, but week to week he simply cannot rely on his play on and around the greens. That’s nothing to do with his clubs.This could be put down to him playing a little less this year. The short game is usually the first thing to go when a player doesn’t play as often, but this is to be expected at Rose’s age.But when you look into the numbers, it’s clear why Rose is so keen to defend his move to McLaren.READ MORE: Why Bryson DeChambeau returning to the PGA Tour may not be as unlikely as it currently seems