Smiting Drives - The most boring controversy in sport is over
Booze, drugs, betting, adultery and cheating - filthy pollutants in the sporting sphere I'll grant you, but at least they're entertaining.
The same cannot be said for the Ping Eye2 wedges saga, which reached a soporfically boring conclusion this week.
After much meeting of overpaid men taking themselves far too seriously, Ping have backed down and sewn up their own loophole for good. Eye2 wedges will not be allowed on the PGA Tour from March 29.
To those of you who've missed this one, be thankful. It's been evocative of a town planning debate fought out on the letters page of a local newspaper, and has done nothing but reinforce the outsider's image of golf as a boring game for boring people.
In simple terms, here's what happened. The PGA Tour banned wedges with really deep grooves, with the idea being they were making it too easy for players to escape the rough (and hold greens), and therefore taking the skill out of driving.
It should have been straightforward, but an ancient scroll written in blood by the game's forefathers (ok, 1990) decreed that Ping's Eye2 wedges could not be outlawed by future rules changes in the game.
As an aside, John Daly was one the first players to use them - illustrating quite brilliant foresight of the controversy that would follow. That man is just too good.
Anyhow, the decision to ban square-shaped grooves came in this season, and players including Phil Mickelson decided to take advantage of the loophole. I for one didn't blame them. After all, surely sport is about gaining every possible advantage, providing you do so within the rules. If two mulligans were allowed at Augusta, you can bet your life they'd get used.
But Mickelson got roasted by Scott McCarron (who?), and accused of cheating. That's when the debate got heated.
What seems like decades later, a ridiculous problem has finally been solved. Quite how it took so long is beyond me, but at least you won't have to read about Ping Eye2 wedges in this column ever again.
There's still time to take advantage, however. If I could just wrangle a sponsor's exception at the Puerto Rican Open, those Eye2 wedges could make the difference between a missed cut at 80-over-par and a top-10 finish. Especially with all the fancy boys at the WGC.
After that I'd have to start looking back at past settlements to see if there's anything else I could use.
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Date published :
09 Mar 201009:47:50
