Justin Rose returns with new equipment and substitute caddie

Justin Rose admitted he will have to deal with a "few unknowns" as he gets used to new equipment and a replacement caddie at this week's Desert Classic.

Rose is well rested after taking an extended winter break following a busy end to his 2018 schedule, and he did not feel fresh enough to tee up at the Sentry Tournament of Champions having originally intended to return to action in Maui.

The world No 1 has been practising hard to familiarise himself with his new irons, while he may also put a new putter in his bag which will be carried by Henrik Stenson's former caddie, Gareth Lord.

Rose's regular bagman, Mark Fulcher, revealed earlier this week that he will be unavailable for "the next few weeks" while he recovers from minor surgery, confirming that Lord had stepped into the role in California after parting company with Stenson in November.

The pair get on well thanks to Rose's many outings with Stenson in the Ryder Cup, and the Englishman is looking forward to seeing how his new set-up fares in the pro-am event in Palm Springs.

"Of course there's a few unknowns, there's always a settling-in period with change generally," Rose said at his pre-tournament press conference. "Obviously I believe that I've made some good decisions and some good changes and I feel confident about things, but you never quite know until the scorecard is in your hand.

"So there will be a lot of learning this week and potentially tweaking next week. Equipment-wise, I'm in a great spot, now it's just about going out and playing and getting comfortable with it.

"As for Fooch (Fulcher), he's obviously undergoing a heart procedure while we'll be on the golf course. That's obviously a difficult day for us, but I couldn't have a better guy to help me out for the few weeks in Gareth Lord.

"Henrik and I have gone head-to-head together and we have also been shoulder-to-shoulder in Ryder Cups. So I always felt like my pairing with Henrik wasn't just a two-man pairing - it was a four-man pairing with Henrik, with Fooch and Gareth as well.

"So he's a guy that I'm very comfortable on the golf course with. He's a great mate of Fooch's and I'm happy that he's doing us both a favour, me and Fooch."

On his late change of schedule, Rose added: "I played lot of golf towards the end of last year and needed a little bit of a break. My original plan was to play in Maui and keep the momentum going and then maybe take a bit of a break in February, but it just came around too quick.

"So I felt like the extra couple weeks at home, bedding in a little bit of new equipment, I just didn't feel ready to leave on the 28th of December down to Maui. I also felt like it was important for me to play before getting to San Diego next week, that's an event that I've found is a tricky one to play for being your first event after a break.

"So this fitted in perfectly. Obviously it's great golf here in the desert, wonderful conditions generally to play in, the courses are in good shape, you can get a good read on your game and if can play well you get some birdies going. So I just felt like it was the perfect place to start things up."

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