The running battle between Phil Mickelson and the USGA regarding the legality of grooves appears to have come to an end.
From 1st January, new rules came into effect about permitted grooves on golf clubs and outlawing the ‘U’-shaped groove which was capable of imparting tremendous amounts of spin on shots. However, Phil Mickelson, John Daly and others sought to bypass the ruling by adopting the use of old Ping Eye2 wedges into their bags.
These clubs, despite having banned grooves under new USGA legislation were deemed legal due to their being more than 20-years old and also because of a long-standing lawsuit between the USGA and Ping.
But from March 29th, the use of vintage Ping Eye2 wedges will come under the new USGA rules after Ping waived its legal rights and so the clubs will no longer be a valid club four use on the PGA Tour.
In a statement by Ping chairman and chief executive John Solheim, he said his company had acted in the game’s best interests and that pre-April 1990 clubs would no longer be permitted to be used on the U.S. circuit – which includes the PGA Tour, Champions Tour and Nationwide Tour – once the March 29 waiver comes into force.
“The problem is solved on the PGA Tour and the integrity of the original agreements is unaffected,” Solheim said in the statement which was released by the PGA Tour on Monday.
“It levels the playing field on the PGA Tour and resolves a very unfortunate situation that we predicted would happen when the USGA first proposed the new groove rule more than two years ago.”
Ping is also waiving its legal rights which would have made the clubs usable for the US Open, although the club would still have been illegal in other tournaments. Amateur golfers who use the pre-1990 Ping Eye2 clubs are not affected by the waiver and can continue to use them say Ping, with the clubs remaining legal in all amateur events played under USGA rules.
