Mickelson not cheating, says poll

Last updated: 8th February 2010

61% of Golf365 readers believe that Phil Mickelson was bending not breaking the rule by playing a Ping Eye 2 wedge at Torrey Pines two weeks ago.

The left-hander was accused of "cheating" by fellow US Tour player Scott McCarron over his use of the pre-1990 Ping Eye 2 wedge which exploited a loophole in a new regulation allowing only V grooves.

The Ping wedges are allowed by the games rule makers, the United States Golf Association and Royal & Ancient Golf Club, and approved by the PGA Tour for use in tournaments following a 1993 legal settlement with the club manufacturer that takes precedence over the governing bodies' new regulations.

However, debate has raged all season as to the ethics of using the Ping clubs and that led us to set the following poll:

"Is Phil Mickelson cheating the new grooves regulations by playing with Ping Eye 2 wedges?"

The two options were:

Yes - forget the loophole, these clubs don't conform
No - he's bending the rule not breaking it

At one point during the week the poll was running around 50-50.

But with the US Tour coming out in support of Mickelson - the most high-profile user of the Ping clubs - and Lefty taking the controversial wedge out of his bag for the Northern Trust Open after stressing that he had made his point, the hostility towards the three-time major champ appeared to soften.

And that led to a clear result in our poll - 61% believed he was simply exploiting a loophole while 39% believed he was cheating the new regulations.