McCarron apologizes to Mickelson; PGA Tour, Ping in negotiations

PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. -- Four days after Scott McCarron prompted a series of sensational headlines by using the most shameful word in golf, he apologized to PGA Tour counterpart Phil Mickelson.

After a meeting of tour players at Riviera Country Club on Tuesday night, McCarron said in a Golf Channel interview and then reiterated to reporters that he regretted what he had said about the world's No. 2 player.

Phil Mickelson's 20-year-old wedge is still legal, but the PGA Tour is negotiating with Ping to change that. (US Presswire)

"I'm certainly sorry for it and I'd like to apologize to Phil Mickelson for what I said," McCarron said.

It seemingly marked a quick change of heart for the veteran. A day earlier, he issued a statement in which he made no attempt to apologize for describing Mickelson as "cheating" when he used a controversial 20-year-old club that technically is allowed under tour rules.

McCarron fell on his sword after attending an hour-long players meeting with tour commissioner Tim Finchem. McCarron and Mickelson were seen shaking hands and chatting amicably for several minutes after the private meeting ended.

"We both realized we are on the same page on this issue," McCarron said afterward. "I'm really sorry that I did that and singled out a player."

Mickelson left the meeting without comment. The two players and Finchem were said to be having a private dinner with George W. Bush later Tuesday night, although McCarron declined to confirm it.

"Top secret," he said.

The grooves rift has been no secret, to be sure. After the first round last week in San Diego, McCarron said he was "appalled" that a player of Mickelson's status was using a Ping wedge that had been grandfathered in as a conforming club and thus has grooves that otherwise would have been banned. McCarron said players using the club were cheating by violating the spirit of the new rule. Mickelson and seven others last week used the old Ping wedges, which feature square grooves that otherwise were outlawed for tour players under a new rule on Jan. 1.

Approximately 40-50 players attended the meeting as Finchem laid out the legal scenario and why players need to come to grips, at least for now, with the exemption the Ping wedges have been granted. Finchem declined comment afterward and has a news conference set for 1:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday to discuss the issue.

Mickelson last week used a Ping Eye 2 club, circa 1990, that has been green-lighted for play because of a legal settlement between Ping and the tour. Because of the language of the legal agreement, however, the tour apparently has little wiggle room to ban the old clubs from play, veterans Jim Furyk and Stewart Cink said afterward.

Finchem told the group he spoke with Ping CEO John Solheim on Tuesday about working about a possible agreement that would allow the tour to ban the clubs, which Ping no longer manufacturers. The controversy seemingly won't much help Ping, since the company hasn't sold Eye 2 clubs for years and the attendant publicity has come with an interesting twist -- it essentially means that 20-year-old wedges are superior to the conforming gear that Ping currently is putting in the hands of tour players.

McCarron and Cink said Finchem admitted the tour was caught with its pants down on the issue. Tour brass knew for more than a year that the Pings would be permitted for play even after the new rule went into effect Jan. 1, but never anticipated the firestorm the clubs would cause.

"I don't think they believed many players would use a 20-year-old club," McCarron said.

Cink said Finchem admitted to making a mistake and being "naïve" with regard to how many players might consider using the wedges.

In addition to Mickelson, three-time major winner Padraig Harrington indicated Tuesday he might put a Ping wedge into play this week at the Northern Trust Open. Harrington said the wedge put an additional 2,000 rpms of spin on his ball out of the rough than a new, conforming wedge built according to Jan. 1 specifications.

"There's a significant difference," Harrington said.

McCarron predicted that since there are multiple organizations involved, plus the manufacturer, that it would take at least 90 days before the issue is resolved. Most of the players were hopeful the tour and Ping could somehow resolve to lift the grandfather clause that made the clubs legal, effectively banning the clubs.

"That's kind of the first hurdle," McCarron said.

Frankly, it's also the biggest one. Solheim indicated Monday night that he would be willing to at least discuss the Eye 2 situation with the tour. His late father, Karsten, spent a fortune fighting the USGA and tour for the right to produce the square-groove clubs that have since been banned -- with the exception of the 1990-era Eye 2s.

"If they are talking, that's probably a good sign," Furyk said.