R&A Chief: PGA Tour, PGA Of America "Campaign" Unnecessarily Put Rulemaking On "The Negotiating Table"

Kevin Garside with his summary of Peter Dawson's R&A media day, including this blunt Dawson assessment of the PGA Tour and PGA of America following their opposition to the anchoring ban:

"I'm disappointed at the way that campaign was conducted. It put rule-making on to the negotiating table," he said. "People have taken positions that they will now have to back off from or maintain. The negotiating table is no place for rule-making. Obviously, feelings are strong. We shall have to see where it goes.

"The bodies in golf have always been working well together and mutually respectful of each other's position. But this latest incident has set this back. I know many will say we were late doing this and that is unarguably true, but we did react to an upsurge in use of anchored strokes and one might say it is never too late to do the right thing."

Campaign. Setback. As I noted in my story from Augusta last week, these are unusual times in golf's power brokering world, with Dawson's ire spilling out publicly last week in a showdown with PGA President Ted Bishop.