Web Street Golf Daily Pulse
VOLUME 1, NUMBER 23
Wednesday February 3, 2010
ANY IDEA WHO SAID THIS? “It's a massive coup for Ping, isn't it, that people can hit their 20-year-old clubs better than their current manufacturers.”
AS YOU MIGHT HAVE EXPECTED: PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem addressed the media on the topic of the groove controversy. In his usual manner, Finchem was calm, cool and collected in articulating the complicated subject other than blood coming from one of fingers. According to the Commissioner, the Ping EYE2 wedge generates approximately 20% more spin than what the condition of competition rule prefers. Individual performances are somewhat varied, however, based on differing components, such as swing speed and launch angle, he said.
Nevertheless, Finchem outlined one of the three things that can take place to overcome the current situation. The first was maintaining status quo, which wouldn’t change anything. The second scenario is to have John Solheim of Karsten Manufacturing offer the Tour and the USGA charity by agreeing to remove the product for Tour use, which would contradict a prior settlement agreement that his late father made. “And I've spoken to John Solheim,” said Finchem. “My understanding is he'll be meeting with the USGA potentially in the next week. I hope that meeting occurs. And I can only hope that progress is made in that regard.” John Solheim issued a statement, which acknowledged the conversation and maintained that a further dialogue was appropriate. “PGA Tour Commissioner Finchem and I had a brief discussion and he shared his belief that the 1993 settlement agreement allowed his organization to utilize the protocol to consider a special rule that would ban Ping EYE2 irons and wedges. While we strongly disagree with their interpretation of the agreement, we agreed further dialogue on the topic was healthy. We hope to speak again in the next week or so. I’ve also been in contact with the USGA and expect to meet with them as well,” Solheim said.
The third option appears to have some opposition from Solheim, who is holding some important cards in this high stakes matter. “We do have this process available to us in the agreement that we entered into, which allows us after we follow a certain process, which involves asking an independent committee for an evaluation of promulgating a rule that would differ in some respects to the USGA rule,” said Finchem, “which would give us the ability after that process is successfully completed, to take out the language that would require us to allow Ping Eye 2s manufactured before 1990 to be used.”
So Finchem offered some alternatives, the most viable one representing divine intervention from John Solheim’s Karsten Manufacturing company, makers of Ping clubs. However, it appears someone else, who carries some weight in golf circles, has another idea on how to overcome this impasse..
LEFTY SAYS USGA’S NEW RULE DOESN’T PASS THE SMELL TEST: Once upon a time, the tag line was, “These guys are good.” It morphed to, “Anything is possible.” Sounds like another way to describe the wedge controversy. That is until Phil Mickelson decided it was time someone spoke out about in straightforward terms. Mickelson who has displayed an all for nothing, riverboat gambler style in attacking pins wasn’t about to back away from this topic. Fan love him or love to make fun of his risky strategy on the golf course when it occasionally backfires, should stand and applaud him for taking a stand on a subject he is quite passionate about.
“I have been very upset over the way the entire groove rule has come about and its total lack of transparency,” Mickelson began. “I'm very upset with the way the rule came about, the way one man essentially can approve or not approve a golf club based on his own personal decision regardless of what the rule says. This has got to change,” he continued. “To come out and change a rule like this that has a loophole has got to change. It's ridiculous. It hurts the game, and you cannot put the players in a position to interpret what the rule has meant. That's why we have a decisions book, to decide this stuff.”
Mickelson was adamant that the USGA made a mistake with its decision to implement a condition of competition rule in 2010. “This should have been decided well before this came out. It put me and it put all players in a bad spot, and it needs to be changed. This rule-making process needs to be changed.”
Meanwhile, Mickelson is offering an olive branch of sorts this week by declaring he won’t use the Ping EYE2 wedge in defense of his title at Riviera CC. “I respect these players out here. I like and respect these players. And last year when my wife and I were at one of our low points, these players came together and did one of the nicest things that could have ever been done to show support, and it meant tons for me. And out of respect for them, I do not want to have an advantage over anybody, whether it's perceived or actual. So this week I won't be playing that wedge. My point has been made. I won't play it,” he said.
But he isn’t backing down from his position on the subject. “But if these governing bodies cannot get together to fix this loophole, if players stop using this wedge, which would stop the pressing of the issue, then I will re-look at it and put the wedge back in play,” he said. “But I hope that players continue to play the wedge. I hope that the governing bodies get forced into changing their rule-making process. I hope there's more transparency amongst the governing body. We cannot have one man have arbitrary power over this. It's frustrating for players, and it's extremely frustrating for manufacturers, and I hope all this stuff gets changed. If there's no pressure amongst these organizations to make changes, I will immediately put the club back in play,” Mickelson stated.
Mickelson made an effort more than once to educate the media that his concerns are more than simply the groove topic. “I think it was a ridiculous rule change and even worse timing. It's cost manufacturers millions of dollars. It continues to cost them money as we now have to hire people to scan, document and store data of every club of every groove on every single club. It was unnecessary. It was an attempt to show power. And the arbitrary judgment of one man can take a conforming club and rule it non-conforming based on his emotion, this type of lack of transparency has got to change. It's killing the sport. It's killing the manufacturers, the players. We don't understand the rule, and it needs to be changed,” Mickelson stated.
Somewhere in the universe the late Ely Callaway must be smiling... Stay tuned, this topic isn’t going away.
AND NOW A WORD FROM OUR SPONSOR: Callaway Golf President and CEO, George Fellows, issued a company statement on Phil Mickelson.
“There has been a lot of discussion surrounding Phil Mickelson's use of one older model Ping wedge during the Farmers Insurance Open,” Fellows began. “Normally I would not comment on such matters, but in this instance I would like to clarify any misunderstandings and help everyone work together to solve the problems that Phil helped highlight.
“I think everyone should know by now that Phil has not done anything wrong. He did not violate any rule or regulation regarding equipment, as confirmed by the PGA TOUR. Those who offered misinformed statements at the start of last week have since issued retractions and apologies. In addition, Phil did not violate his contract with Callaway, and he never would. Phil has been our partner and friend for many years, and we continue to work very closely with him, as we do with all of our staff professionals. Phil’s love for the game of golf is demonstrated in the way he conducts himself both on and off the course.
“I sincerely hope that any misinformed speculation about a nonexistent wrongdoing does not detract from the fact that Phil did something very much right. The stature and respect that Phil has earned throughout his career allowed him to produce a focused attention on several problems currently being faced by the Tours, players and others as they implement an unprecedented rollback in groove specifications.
“While Callaway Golf did not support this rollback, we recognize that we all need to work together regarding its implementation. In this regard, we applaud the statement by John Solheim of Ping indicating his willingness to work with Commissioner Finchem to address the Ping wedge issue specifically. We think this highlights the natural partnership that exists between the PGA TOUR and the equipment manufacturers who work very closely with the players. We all recognize the importance of how the game is portrayed by the best players, and have a shared interest in preserving that image. Thus, Callaway, like Ping, hopes to be able to work with the PGA TOUR and all the professional tours to solve the problems created by this rollback in the Rules of Golf. We thank Phil for his courage in bringing this issue to the fore.”
A NEW RESOURCE: On the heels of the recent launch of BLACK WIDOW Grips, the company today unveiled www.bwgrips.com. “We are very excited to launch this new website to promote the excellent performance features and benefits of BLACK WIDOW Grips,” said John Hohman, Softspikes’ VP of Marketing. “Our team at Softspikes has worked very hard on the development of this site, and we are confident our customers will be intrigued by our bold designs and functional technology.” READ MORE>>>
TWEET, TWEET: Joe Ogilvie offers another option on the groove debate via his Twitter account: “There is a 4th alternative to the groove rule: swallow the ego, do a mea culpa and suspend the groove rule immediately.”
WEB GEMS:
COULD IT BE? The Melbourne Herald is reporting when Tiger Woods will return to competitive play. READ MORE>>>
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ANSWER: Lee Westwood who added, "I've spent most of my life trying to take spin off the ball so I'm not about to put in 20-year-old clubs. I think the up-to-date stuff that Ping manufactures are far superior to the stuff of 20 years ago."
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THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IS BELIEVED TO BE RELIABLE, BUT IT IS NOT GUARANTEED. THE OPINION EXPRESSED IS THAT OF TERRY MCANDREW AND SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED A SOLICITATION TO BUY OR SELL SECURITIES IN ANY OF THE COMPANIES DISCUSSED WITHIN THIS NEWSLETTER. CONTENTS OF THIS NEWSLETTER MAY NOT BE REPRINTED OR REBROADCAST WITHOUT THE EXPRESSED WRITTEN CONSENT OF TMAC GOLF
VOLUME 1, NUMBER 25
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