"Instead of golf, there's another wave of negative news that's putting the tour on SportsCenter, and we're not talking about the Tiger Woods scandal or John Daly's latest quitting act."
/I can't agree with Tim Rosaforte's premise that "Groovegate" is "exactly what the PGA Tour doesn't need right now."
The scope of this story is not the result of a slow news cycle, with Ryuji Imada pulling away from Michael Sim in an attempt to close out his second career victory. The scope is that this was supposed to be Mickelson's debut, a diversion from the dark clouds that have hovered over the game since Thanksgiving.
For image conscious commissioner Tim Finchem, who just put a corporate title sponsor on the San Diego Open, "Mickelson" and "cheating" producing 464,000 Google hits is not exactly good optics.
It's bad public relations -- not to mention public perception. It's bad for Scott McCarron, who in the last two weeks has become golf's go-to guy for the hot quote, and for Mickelson, who brought on most of this himself by electing to use one of his old Ping Eye 2 60-degree wedges in the first place.
First, this little brouhaha that is like so many others over equipment, will be forgotten in time unless Phil Mickelson files some sort of slander lawsuit.
But in the meantime, I would counter Rosaforte's suggestion by noting that this has been a welcomed diversion from Tiger talk. "Groovegate" has also created plenty of interesting discussion about the spirit of the rules, and yes, it has put a debate-worthy element of the game front and center on the most visible spot in all of American sport, Sportscenter.
I say Hallelujah!
Why is golf so much more ashamed of its controversies than every other sport? Is it because it's read one-too-many of its own clippings about being a Gentleman's game and the most honorable of all, and therefore can't accept that there is any room for discussion or dare I say it, drama?
It would seem impossible for the sport to ever obtain another group of fans (and therefore, all vital Nielsen ratings), without a little more zest in the way of controversies like Groovegate. But I bet you all will tell me otherwise.
Bill Dwyre agrees with me:
Golf also had controversy, and Mickelson was involved. He was using a club with grooves that had been outlawed by the sport but had been grandfathered in since it was manufactured prior to April 1, 1990, and had been part of a lawsuit. Fellow pro Scott McCarron called Mickelson's use of the club "cheating."
Wow. Great stuff. What next? A fistfight in a sand trap?
Mickelson turned up the heat Saturday, telling the media he had been "publicly slandered." Good thing he wasn't "privately slandered" or he would have really gotten hot.
Strait-laced PGA officials may project that they want none of this sort of shenanigans, but deep inside, they had to be tickled.
This could help people forget Woods. This was a buzz in a sport that could quickly, minus Woods, become curling. There is nothing wrong with the image of bland, which golf has, as long as there is occasional contrast.
