Is Justin Rose the next PGA Tour star to switch clothing sponsors?

07/01/2024 19:58

The new year has already brought a lot of changes. Could Justin Rose be among those making a big shift in the swag department?

Jason Day has already made a massive fashion change in 2024 by moving from Nike to Malbon Golf. That change has already caught the golf world's attention for the up and coming brand.

Will Justin Rose become the next PGA Tour player to make a change, or has he already made the move?

On the surface, nothing seems to be different from the veteran player, but if one looks closely, the clues are there.

As one of the most stylish players on Tour, he is one of the guys I pay attention to every week to see what he has on. Not many would notice this, but as a golf fashionista, all it took was one post from Rose to make me start digging.

So let's break it down.

Justin Rose at The Sentry

After the second round of the Sentry at Kapalua Plantation Course in Maui, Hawaii, he put a simple photo on Twitter.

"Hoping my putting will be on (fire emoji) this weekend," Rose wrote.

The caption seems harmless, right? It is.

However, that isn't what piqued my interest. It was who the 43-year-old tagged and what he had on in the photo.

Rose wore a classic floral polo from the golf luxury brand Peter Millar.

One may think, okay, and is this really interesting?

Yes, it is.

Bonobos Golf may no longer smell like Roses

Rose has been an ambassador with Bonobos Golf since 2019. He and the brand grew closer when he created his own collection with them.

Justin Rose x Bonobos launched in March 2021, where he helped the golf brand co-design an assortment of printed polos, pants, and shorts. It was a fashionable collection that could appeal to the masses. Not to mention, Rose's designs were relatively affordable at $69 a polo.

He is special to co-design an entire line, so I was shocked when he posted a photo in Peter Millar. Then, I went down a rabbit hole to see what was happening with Rose and his relationship with Bonobos.

A search on Twitter showed him in his usual brand at the Grant Thornton Invitational when he played alongside Charley Hull. He even tagged Bonobos in the post on Instagram.

The Englishman also wore his collection at the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas earlier in December. Rose tagged them in that post on Instagram, too.

This could deter many people from thinking it was more than a temporary thing, but I went a step further. Does Rose still follow Bonobos on Instagram? Do they still follow him? Who does Rose follow?

Well, the plot thickens because while Bonobos does follow him, the 11-time PGA Tour winner does not follow them. But, Peter Millar is among the accounts he follows and is followed by.

I dug deeper and saw that Peter Millar follows him on Instagram, too. However, neither Rose nor the luxury clothing brand has posted about the new relationship. All that exists is that they follow each other and their posts on Twitter.

It's all suspicious because Bonobos still has their Rose hashtag in their Instagram bio.

So I went to Bonobos' website, and it only gets more interesting.

Rose's entire collection is on sale or has sold out. This move could be them getting ready for the 2024 line to drop. But with all of the other evidence, it only made the situation more curious.

Peter Millar and Rose could have a new relationship in the works, but for Bonobos to still have him all over their brand feels fishy. What gives? It's weird because they didn't announce the move, which seems hush-hush. No one is talking about it either.

So, is Rose leaving his long-time clothing sponsor? Nothing has been officially announced, but this little investigation only raised more questions.

Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation's Playing Through. For more golf coverage, be sure to follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports.