Recently, the US Golf Association (USGA) which is the governing body for golf in the US changed the rules on clubs. It doesn’t sound like much but they changed the shape of the grooves on the face of a club. They went from a U groove back to the older V groove, kind of. This should make the game harder for the best players in the world and maybe prevent them from scorching course records on a regular basis.

However, there was a catch. They allowed some older clubs that kind of meet the rules. This grandfathering of clubs is where come to now.

With Tiger out of the picture all eyes are on Phil Mickelson. And these eyes see him (and a few other notable players) using a grandfathered wedge. He is not breaking the rules. He is in full compliance. However, there are people and players questioning his integrity and his faithfulness to the game. WHAT?

Check it out

“I think it’s cheating and I’m appalled,” McCarron said. “All those guys should be ashamed of themselves. As one of our premier players, [Mickelson] should be one of the guys who steps up and says this is wrong.”

By the way, Scott McCarron is ranked number 198 in the world. Yes, he can kick my butt on a golf course but making an issue of this is poor sport. The USGA should be his target.

Mickelson didn’t write the rules. He is simply following them. There are those who say he should take the “high road” and not use the old wedge. He should be a leader they say. Sure, and put millions of dollars in winnings and sponsorships at risk. Why? To take the high road. I don’t think so.

Of course, I am all about honor and integrity and doing the right thing. I am also all about not doing stupid things. If Mickelson takes the high road I think he is wrong. Just my opinion but to call this an integrity issue is absurd.

Integrity is living up to your commitments, doing what you say you will do. He is following the rules. What would Tiger do? You know, the guy who had a bakers dozen of girlfriends. The guy who was the role model for the PGA Tour. The guy who everyone is no longer talking about because he needed his privacy, because it was personal issue. Yes, and it was a HUGE integrity issue. Why not criticize him for ruining the honor of the game?

But criticize Phil? Not me.

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 30th, 2010 at 2:49 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.