His move comes after fellow Tour player Scott McCarron accused him of
cheating. The PGA Tour is to hold an emergency meeting to try to defuse the
row.
The fuss is all to do with a new rule brought in by the governing bodies this
year banning the use of clubs with 'super-spinning' U-shaped grooves.
There was just one problem with the plan. In 1990 the manufacturers, Ping,
filed a lawsuit against the United States Golf Association. Under the terms
of that settlement the USGA was not allowed to retrospectively ban Ping
clubs, so the Ping Eye-2 irons of the late Eighties are still legal.
Those clubs have grooves that spin the ball a lot. The grooves do not conform
with the new rule, but they are legal because of a pre-existing lawsuit. So
the likes of Phil Mickelson, John Daly and Hunter Mahan took advantage of
the loophole and stuck an old Ping Eye-2 in the bag.
McCarron, who sits on the US PGA Tour's player advisory committee, said of
Mickelson: "It's cheating and I'm appalled Phil has put it in play."
Mickelson retorted: "Well, we all have our opinions on the matter, but a
line was crossed, and I just was publicly slandered, and because of that
I'll have to let other people handle that.
"I agree that the rule is a terrible rule. To change to something that
has this kind of loophole is nuts. But it's not up to me or any other player
to interpret what the spirit of the rule is. I understand black and white.
Myself or any other player is allowed to play those clubs because they're
approved. End of story."
Except it was not the end of the story. Many players feel that Mickelson and
others are acting against the spirit of the game. Lee Westwood plays Ping
clubs but he is using wedges with the new conforming V-grooves.
Then McCarron weighed in. Mickelson does not need this hassle right now. Both
his wife and his mother have undergone recent treatment for breast cancer.
The world No 2 has more important things on his mind than responding to
McCarron's latest comments.
But cheating is the horror word in golf, as evidenced by the spat between
Sandy Lyle and Colin Montgomerie at last year's Open. Mickelson had to
answer the charge.
Unfortunately the old Ping Eyes cannot help everyone. After missing the cut at
the San Diego Open at Torrey Pines, Daly said: "I can't keep taking
spots from guys out here playing this bad. It's not worth it. I'm tired of
embarrassing myself. I can't do it anymore. I'm done. I can't compete. I
can't play like I used to."
Daly later insisted his comments did not mean he was retiring and pledged to
play on. "I'm not retired and never said I was retiring," Daly
said. "The interview caught me after a tough two days and much
frustration."
Mickelson, meanwhile, was four shots adrift of Japan's Ryuji Imada, who took a
two-shot lead into Sunday's final round.
Rhys Davies stunned by first European win in Hassan Trophy in Morocco 
