Phil Mickelson takes controversial club out of his bag

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Phil Mickelson said Wednesday that he is voluntarily taking his Ping Eye 2 wedge out of the bag even though it is still legal. Mickelson also said he hoped other players continued to use the club to keep pressure on the United States Golf Assn. and the PGA to fix a rule that went into place Jan. 1.

The Ping Eye 2 is a square-grooved club that, because of a lawsuit settled in the mid-1990s, is considered ‘conforming’ even under the new rule, which mandates pros use V-groove irons.

Most players don’t have the ability to find a Ping Eye 2 (one made before April 1990). Mickelson has one though.

However, because of the uproar caused last week when another player, Scott McCarron, said that Mickelson, by having the club, was basically cheating, Mickelson said Wednesday that he would not have the Ping Eye 2 in his bag this week for the Northern Trust Open. Mickelson is the two-time defending champion and the world’s second-ranked golfer.

‘This week I won’t be playing the wedge,’ he said. ‘My point has been made. I won’t play it. But if these governing bodies cannot get together to fix this loophole, if players stop using this wedge, which would stop the pressing of the issue, then I will re-look at it and put the wedge back in play. I hope that the governing bodies get forced into changing their rule-making process.’

Mickelson said he disagrees with the rule change mandating the so-called V-groove clubs, which impart less spin and are supposed to put a premium on driving accuracy instead of allowing players to recover from a bad shot off the tee by being able to put more spin on the ball. He said he purposely used the Ping club to illustrate the absurd nature of a rule that offers such an obvious loophole. ‘I think it was a ridiculous rule change,’ he said.

-- Diane Pucin