PING, PGA Tour Settle...
/The PING Eye2 wedge groove controversy dies March 29, as Bob Harig writes.
"We all believe it is in the best interests of golf," Ping chairman and CEO John Solheim said in a statement. "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."
Solheim said the settlement also allows Ping to retain its other rights from its settlements with the PGA Tour and the USGA. That means amateur players will still be able to use Ping Eye 2 clubs made before April 1990 at all amateur events played under the USGA Rules of Golf.
The ban also applies to the Champions Tour and the Nationwide Tour.
Players on professional tours were required to conform to new rules beginning Jan. 1 which narrow the space between grooves. Although highly technical, the change means less spin can be imparted on the golf ball, especially from the rough.
The old Ping clubs had more space between the grooves than allowed under the 2010 rule, but were deemed conforming due to the lawsuit.
The waiver goes into effect March 29, meaning the old clubs could still technically be used during this week's WGC-CA Championship, the Transitions Championship and Arnold Palmer Invitational. Ping will also apply the waiver to the U.S. Open in June.
"John Solheim and Ping had a terrific opportunity to do something very positive and significant for the game of golf and we very much appreciate his willingness to take this action," PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem said in a statement.
Alright, let's not lay it on too thick.
Steve Elling notes these "other wrinkles":
* The LPGA, which had agreed to play by USGA rules even though it had not signed any 1990-era agreement with Ping, will ban the use of old Eye 2s, as will the developmental Duramed Futures Tour. "If it's not on the USGA's conforming list, then we won't use it," LPGA rules official Doug Brecht said.
* The Masters and PGA Championship, which stated their intention to play events in 2010 in accordance with USGA rules, can remove the Eye 2 grandfather clause. The remaining major, the British Open, is played under the auspices of the R&A, which was not a party to either Ping loophole settlement and previously banned Eye 2s on Jan. 1.
