Scott McCarron Not Backing Down on Groove Issue, Phil Criticism

Veteran PGA Tour player Scott McCarron, a member of the Tour's Player Advisory Council, created a hornet's nest with his comments last week ripping Phil Mickelson and others for taking advantage of a loophole in the new groove rules.

The new groove rules ban square grooves. The loophole - which exists for PGA Tour and USGA competitions - allows square-grooved Ping Eye 2 irons and wedges made in the late 1980s to continue being used, even though they don't conform to the new groove rules. The loophole dates to a legal battle between the USGA and Ping, and the PGA Tour and Ping, in the late '80s and early 1990s.

When Mickelson decided last week to use an old Ping Eye 2 wedge at the Farmers Insurance Open, McCarron blasted the decision, saying: "It's cheating and I am appalled Phil has put it in play."

Today, McCarron posted a note on his Web site standing by those comments and calling for the PGA Tour to ban the old Ping Eye 2s, while also saying he never called Mickelson a cheater.

McCarron is technically right about that. He never said "Phil Mickelson is a cheater." But when you say that a) using the old Pings is cheating; and note that b) Mickelson is using the old Pings; you are saying "Phil Mickelson is cheating." "He's a cheater" vs. "he's cheating." Yes, there's a difference, but not enough of one for McCarron to be offended that some are saying he called Mickelson a cheater.

Regardless of the semantics, neither Mickelson nor any of the other golfers using the old Ping Eye 2s are cheating at all: Those wedges are legal for play, as the USGA and PGA Tour have re-iterated, due to the long-ago legal agreements between those organizations and Ping.

It should be interesting to watch this develop going forward. McCarron and other players want the Tour to ban the old Pings. He wrote on his Web site:

The USGA and the PGA Tour were made aware of this potential issue by its players last year. Instead of acting or addressing the matter, the Tour chose to put the onus to comply on its players. Unfortunately, a handful of players have chosen not to comply and that is what has led to this current ordeal. In my opinion, as a 16-year veteran of the PGA Tour and a member of the Tour's Player Advisory Council, the Tour must now put a rule in place to protect the field and ban these wedges. Most of the players on the PGA Tour feel the loophole in this rule needs to be closed.

McCarron wants the loophole closed and the wedges banned. But the loophole doesn't exist because of a handshake agreement between the Tour and Ping, or because of a wink-wink backroom deal. It exists because of a legal agreement that is in writing and is binding. If the only way to ban the old Ping Eye 2s is to abrogate a legal agreement, can the PGA Tour even do that? Would it throw the whole thing back into the courts?

If the Tour wants to try to ban the old wedges, its only choice might be to throw itself at Ping's mercy, and hope the equipment manufacturer will agree to release the Tour from that old legal agreement.

Meantime, PGA Tour officials plan to meet with players again this week at the Northern Trust Open to discuss the issue and players' questions and concerns. It will be interesting to see whether more or fewer golfers are using the old Ping Eye 2s this week, and whether Mickelson decides to use them again.

Mickelson has hated the new groove rules from the start, and his exploitation of the loophole might have been a bit of a poke in the eye to the USGA and PGA Tour for those new groove rules.