John Solheim should end row over Ping Eye 2 by banning the club himself

The row got so ugly that the players met on Tuesday night in California to try to find a way out. Rather than wait for the latest emission of hot air, we decided to put the club at the centre of the dispute to the test. The results were startling.

Richard Harrison, the head professional at the Roehampton Club, compared the modern Ping-i wedge that he uses today with one of the old Ping Eye 2 wedges from the late Eighties – the sort used by Mickelson at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines last week. After hitting 20 shots Harrison said: "I'm actually very surprised by this. I wouldn't have expected so significant a difference."

Harrison was playing half-shots out of the rough to a soft, winter green. With the old Ping Eye 2 Harrison was able to zip the ball up to four feet backwards from its pitch mark. All 10 shots he hit with the old club had such significant backspin that the ball finished behind its pitch mark.

When Harrison used his modern, conforming wedge the majority of shots took one small hop forwards and stopped. Only two finished behind their pitch mark. You can now understand why Padraig Harrington is reported to be considering using the old Ping Eye 2 in California this week.

Harrison said: "For the best players in the world the difference is substantial. The whole thing is about distance control. The grooves on the Ping Eye 2 are much more aggressive and will allow the top players to stop the ball on fast greens that are often sloping away from them. It's a significant advantage."

You could see the evidence on the golf ball itself. Harrison became quite nostalgic when he saw the scuffed white surface of the ball. The sharper, wider, deeper grooves had made quite an impact. That is how golf balls looked in the Eighties when clubs were at their sharpest.

Harrison explained that when you play a shot with a lofted club like a wedge the ball does not just bounce off into the yonder, but rolls up the club face as the grooves grab at it. This spin is cherished by the top pros.

The lawmakers brought in the new groove rule this year to limit that spin because it was devaluing accurate driving. The new rule will not affect you and I. The regulation for the wider game is not due to be introduced until 2024 at the earliest.

Pros being pros, a few immediately found a way around the new directive. Due to a legal loophole, the old Ping Eye 2 wedges are allowed in America. So John Daly stuck in the sort of club he used when winning the PGA Championship at Crooked Stick in 1991 and Mickelson followed suit.

Colin Montgomerie said of Mickelson: "It's for the authorities to get together and decide that this is really not the way to go." Rory McIlroy said: "I don't see why they don't firm greens up and get the rough longer to bring scores down."

It is all rather less polite in the States. Scott McCarron accused Mickelson of cheating, Mickelson threatened to sue, McCarron then said: "I want my fans, sponsors and most importantly, my fellow players, to know that I will not be silenced. I am still appalled by the fact that any player would make the choice to put this controversial wedge in play, and I stand by my previous comments."

Ping is equally indignant, but for different reasons. When Telegraph Sport contacted the company for assistance with this article, a representative claimed that it did not have any old Ping Eye 2 wedges. Ping then issued a statement saying that it was willing "to discuss a workable solution".

Ping represents itself as fighting for the common golfer. John Solheim, the chief executive of Ping and son of the founder, has said: "The new groove rule harms the game."

Solheim was concerned that the rule would force millions of amateurs to buy new clubs and reduce the trade-in value of their old ones. He has a point, but Ping's history of litigation reduces his credibility. It should not be up to big business to dictate the laws of the game. If Ping had not taken action 20 years ago over the banning of grooves, then we would not now be in this mess as the club would not be in play.

Founding father Karsten Solheim was a brilliant man and did wonders for ordinary golfers like me, but he damaged golf forever when he went down the legal route. His son could show his love of golf by agreeing to the banning of the old Ping Eye 2 for the pros.

We have proved how much extra spin they produce. Solheim could end it all with a 'waive' of his magic wedge.