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Mickelson accused of cheating

• Snaike 3,678 Posts

  Sat, Jan 30 2010 9:22 AM

  OaktheToke:

  However, that poor round pales in comparison to those god awful zebra print pants he was wearing.

  You may be right... but at 111lbs less than he used to be, I've decided he can wear whatever the hell he wants.

  Pretty impressive for the big man...

• OaktheToke 409 Posts

  Sat, Jan 30 2010 9:40 AM

  Snaike:

  Pretty impressive for the big man...

  Did you see his interview yesterday with the producer of his reality show?  He said he can't play anymore and is retiring.  Can't blame him though unless he works on his game.  I think he hasn't made a cut in 2 years.  He should be the new Haney Project.  Hope he turns it around on the course.

• Snaike 3,678 Posts

  Sat, Jan 30 2010 9:58 AM

  No, I missed it.  (been out of touch for the last week or so..)

  Retiring from golf because he lost the lbs?   Well, if that is the case, it's a damn good trade-off.  Keep the weight on, play golf and die early, or lose the weight and live a lot longer.  Seems like a no-brainer to me.

   

• OaktheToke 409 Posts

  Sat, Jan 30 2010 10:26 AM

  No, he'd be retiring because he can't play anymore.  Hasn't made a cut in almost 2 years and only 2 cuts in 3 years.  He shot a 79 on Friday and is finishing in last place a lot. It's embarrassing for him and he's surviving solely by getting sponsor exemptions in order to enter tournaments, which means he's taking a spot away from another pro who might be able to compete better.  Maybe he can't get used to playing without the weight, maybe its all mental, but its not good.  He makes poor decisions off the tee and can't execute on approaches and touch shots.   Sadly, perhaps he just doesn't have it anymore.

  Probably not helping that the Golf Channel is filming it all for his new reality show coming up.

• SweetiePie 4,925 Posts

  Sat, Jan 30 2010 11:43 AM

  Big Jon likes cigarettes and booze. And has since high school. He won his first event, The PGA,  jacked up on Jack and has always played better golf in this state. Everytime he has tried to get healthy by loosing weight, eating the right food, going on the wagon and following the advise of "experts", he plays like a hack. He should follow his own poor living habits that make him happy. Maybe he could start playing well again. Being handcuffed into a pure life style doesn't agree with him it seems.

• TheLegendary 21 Posts

  Sat, Jan 30 2010 1:11 PM

  Exactly, I play with the ping eye 2 orange 3-PW irons.  I got them when i was 12, back then, that was the best of the best.  Last year i tried the Ping G10's and i barley liked them better, i still think those were the best irons ever made and i will continue to play with them.

• SweetiePie 4,925 Posts

  Sat, Jan 30 2010 2:28 PM

  What is most interesting about McCarron's troubles with Phil the Thrill's 25 year old Eye2 wedge, which was found to conform to USGA groove requirements in a court of law,  is that Mr. McCarron has found nothing wrong and issues no complaint about the evolution of the golf ball or the developement of Drivers with enormous sized heads and exotic shafts that have donated, on their own, when in concert with each other, an additional 30 yards in distance with superior accuracy, with no improvement requirement to the golf swing or the human body. He can enjoy and accept these benefits but not those he finds in the Eye2 wedge?

• TarheelsRule 5,566 Posts

  Sun, Jan 31 2010 11:55 AM

  First let me say that I am a big Phil fan.  That being said I have to disagree with the use of the old Ping wedges.   It is important to know that these wedges were found to be non conforming back when the U grooves were originally found out of compliance, however Ping sued and the USGA / Royal and Ancient agreed to allow them to be used to avoid the cost of the lawsuit.  Later many other companies made these and they were allowed, until 2010.  Since these are wedges, distance isn't the issue, it is spin and there is an advantage more important than distance.  While Phil isn't cheating, he is violating the spirit of the rule and I am disappointed someone who is a true spokesmand for golf would do this for a small advantage.

• SweetiePie 4,925 Posts

  Sun, Jan 31 2010 12:56 PM

  TarheelsRule:

  Since these are wedges, distance isn't the issue, it is spin and there is an advantage more important than distance. 

   

  A review of the 1985 top 125 PGA tour stats provide the evidence in distance importance. Of the players on that list who are still around on the Seniors Tour, all of them have driving distance averages that indicate they can hit the ball farther now, in their mid-fifties/ early sixties, than they could during their youthful prime. This fact, along with the many classic golf course gems that have become absolete because of this fact, would point to a problem much larger than 'a little Xtra spin' provided by a wedge that will make nothing absolete. It's ridiculous.

• BOFFMEN 337 Posts

  Sun, Jan 31 2010 1:10 PM

   

  I think an important fact that seems to missing in all this is the following….it was the PGA Tour players that wanted the u-grooves banned.

   

  Here’s a nice timeline from a 2006 Golf Digest article by Mike Stachura.

   

  1984

  Recognizing that casting techniques make it difficult if not impossible to form true V-grooves on iron faces, the USGA softens the guidelines on face markings, allowing for a more U-shape groove.

  1985

  Karsten Solheim, designer of the Ping Eye2 irons, alters the club's grooves by curving the edges in an effort to reduce the tendency of U-shape grooves to scuff the ball. He does not submit the altered clubs to the USGA.

  1987

  Mark Calcavecchia wins the Honda Classic, famously using a U-groove ping eye2 8-iron shot from the rough to stop on the green. Three months later the USGA announces a ban on the top-selling ping Eye2 irons, not because of the shape of the grooves, but because its radius-edged grooves are believed to be too closely spaced together.

  1988

  The USGA completes an extensive study of grooves, concluding there is no significant benefit to U-grooves over V-grooves. Soon after, the PGA Tour conducts its own research and seeks to ban U-grooves.

  1989 (Feb.).

  USGA rejects a request from the PGA Tour for a condition-of-play clause banning U-grooves.

  1989 (Aug.)

  Seeking to overturn the USGA ban on Ping Eye2 irons, Solheim files a $100 million antitrust lawsuit against the USGA and Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews. Solheim later files an antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour.

  1989 (Dec.)

  A Chicago golfer files a complaint against Ping and the USGA over their handling of the issue of U-grooves.

  1990

  The USGA and Solheim settle their lawsuit out of court with the USGA agreeing to grandfather all previously made Ping Eye2 irons, and Solheim agreeing to the authority of the USGA as rules-maker and promising to immediately begin making conforming irons.

  1991-'93

  Solheim and the PGA Tour sue each other, spend millions on depositions and legal fees, and despite repeated efforts by the PGA Tour to settle, go to court over the issue of grooves. The case is settled out of court less than a week before the trial date with the PGA Tour agreeing not to ban U-grooves.

  Circa 1995

  Computer-based milling machines begin to be used to create more precise grooves on irons and wedges.

  Circa 2004

  Special tools are developed to maximize groove size, specifically on wedges.

  2005

  The USGA's *** Rugge informs manufacturers that the USGA will begin a new study of spin generation.

  2006

  The USGA releases an interim report on spin to manufacturers, indicating that its research now suggests the relative increase in spin generation is higher in U-groove clubs over V-groove clubs than it is for V-groove clubs over grooveless clubs.