One player who was grinning from ear to ear with the news that the PGA Tour would adopt a Condition of Competition banning squared grooves in January 2010 was world No. 1 Tiger Woods. Speaking Tuesday from the AT&T National tournament, where he is the host, Woods said the new restrictions would favor players like himself who already use a high-spin golf ball. Woods plays a Nike ONE Tour Series ball which features a soft, seamless urethane outer cover.
‘I think it’ll be an advantage to the guys who play a spin golf ball already,’ said Woods. ‘Guys who play a harder ball are going to have to make a bigger adjustment to the grooves.’
Woods also commented that most of the guys on Tour already play with the conforming V-shaped grooves in their irons. It’s the sand wedges, he says, that have the non-conforming U grooves.
‘We’ve known for over a couple years now what this decision was going to be, and when it was going to come down, and we’ve had plenty of time to make our adjustments,’ said Woods. ‘All the companies have been testing and getting ready for this, and the guys will make the changes.’
Ping Chairman and CEO John Solheim, who was in favor of banning the rule change altogether, released a statement on Tuesday saying, ‘It’s what I expected and we’re prepared for it. ‘From a technical standpoint, we still have a lot of questions on how the rule will be implemented and enforced on the tours. We’ll continue to pay close attention to that process as we get closer to 2010.’
