"It already seems likely that players who prefer employing heavy spin with their wedges will be changing out those clubs as often as every tournament to get the sharpest grooves possible."

The groove rule change has players flapping their gums not because they find it that interesting. It just beats answering Tiger questions.

Before reading the pre-Kapalua coverage, check out Jaime Diaz's Golf World primer on the rule change and his predictions. 

6. More variety of shots around the green: Because of less available spin, especially from longer grass, players will either play for more run or try to stop the ball with soft-handed high shots that land gently. The low spinner that checks after one bounce will become more difficult. When extra spin is necessary, there will be an increased premium on clean contact and correct use of the club head -- in short, skill.

7. Wedge lofts will go down:Although the need for more loft would seem to suggest more 62- and 64-degree wedges, the way the new grooves cause the ball to ride up the face and launch higher will make high-lofted wedges risky and probably inconsistent. Chances are good the highest-lofted wedge players carry will drop from the customary 60 degrees to 58 degrees.

Mark Lamport Stokes talked to several players about what they're experiencing, including a man who is a master with the wedge when his ball's in the rough, Kenny Perry.

"It will cause some problems but I don't think it's going to be a real big issue," Perry, 49, told Reuters on the eve of Thursday's opening round at the Kapalua Resort. "I think guys will adjust pretty quickly and you will still see good scores.

"I have struggled a little bit with my wedges. My sand wedges and stuff don't bite like they used to bite, they want to release on out. But out of the fairway with my irons I haven't noticed much difference at all."

As of January 1, new rules relating to club-face grooves were implemented at the top level after research found modern configurations could allow players to generate almost as much spin with irons from the rough as from the fairway.

"Chipping the ball is a big difference but even from the rough I have been hitting little jumpers, not big jumpers," added Perry, a 14-times winner on the PGA Tour.

"They are all great players out here and I think guys will adjust in a hurry."

Steve DiMeglio looks at the rule change and features a sidebar of player quotes about the grooves.

"It's quite different when anything other than a perfect dry lie is encountered." - Stewart Cink

"There will be some gains from using the new grooves, but there will be some loss. What that means in the overall context, I'm not sure, but definitely there's places it's to our advantage to have the V-grooves and there will be other places where we're caught out a little." - Padraig Harrington

"I'm sure there's going to be times where we hit flyers and we're going to complain about the grooves. You've just got to understand everyone is going to go through those things, so just don't hit it in the rough." - Anthony Kim