Justin Rose has a very unique wedge in play at The Masters

Justin Rose is well and truly in the early mix at the 2026 Masters, finishing the first day of play in a tie for sixth, three shots off the lead, after carding a solid opening two-under.

With Augusta presenting some of the toughest green complexes on tour, made all the more difficult in this year's notably dry and firm conditions, pinpoint wedge play will be key to remaining in the conversation come Sunday afternoon.

However to dial in his own wedge game, the two-time Masters runner-up has a less-than-conventional wedge in play this weekend, which the eagle-eyed viewers might have noticed has three dirty great holes drilled in the back of it.

The wedge itself is a fairly conventional model, based on the popular Cleveland RTZ Tour Rack (Tour Rack is a raw-style finish that presents less glare at address and degrades without rusting to produce more friction and spin).

Naturally, however, it's the holes in the back that have people confused.

GolfWRX equipment insider Alistair Cameron got the scoop on the thinking behind the unique design, and exactly what Rose and Cleveland were aiming for when cooking up the club.

“It is basically from the mould of the 588 Wide Sole from back in the day, but just current material and legal grooves,” Robert Waters, Tour manager for Srixon/Cleveland Golf, told the website. Rose's reasoning for adopting a wider, higher-bounce profile was to improve versatility in the unique bunkers and tight lies at Augusta.

The club, however, turned out too heavy for Rose to get used to, leading Cleveland to drill three holes into the back of the club to shed some weight. While this may look drastic, Waters says the holes only shaved around 5g from the weight of the club.

"Now we’re working on just getting the head weight proper and being able to get it to where there’s not any mass taken out,” Waters continued.

You can see Rose put the wedge in play when he continues his early Masters charge at 09:55EDT/13:55 GMT.