"Wouldn't it be fun if the possibility really existed that Tiger might have hit his approach out of the light rough on the 72nd hole of the U.S. Open over the green?"

I'm still collecting my thoughts on the groove announcement (hey, I've only had a year). But Bug and Gnat over at GolfDigest.com chime in with a couple of questions that have been, uh, bugging me too, though maybe for different reasons. First, Bug (E. Michael Johnson):

How are they going to enforce this rule and what happens if it doesn't have the desired effect of restoring accuracy as an important part of the pro game?

There is a very good chance this will only have a minor impact, which gets us back to the ball study. Which I'm sure is moving right along.

And enforcement wise, I suspect the USGA testing department gurus have developed an easy way to test. I hope.

Then Gnat (Mike Stachura) asks:

Wouldn't it be fun if the possibility really existed that Tiger might have hit his approach out of the light rough on the 72nd hole of the U.S. Open over the green?

Actually no, and it was something I contemplated while standing there watching Tiger lined up that now famous birdie putt. I wondered how much his shot spinning back was influenced by grooves and how much was the result of his swing speed and personal Nike ball. I hope for future viewing interest the grooves played no role, because even the governing bodies must know that the backspin he imparted on that ball helped make for one of the great moments in golf history.

Comments

[Linus]

"even the governing bodies must know that the backspin he imparted on that ball helped make for one of the great moments in golf history."

Yeah, maybe. I personally think if the ball had spun a bit less and it was a 20-footer for birdie, he'd still have drained it. And then it would've been even cooler.But hey, that's me.

But you can't go into that hindsight stuff. You know, if Van de Velde had had the modern ball, his ball would've cleared the burn, etc. You'll drive yourself nuts, because there's too many variables.

[Doug]

Keep the square grooves, and FORCE them to play high spin balls (ie - initial spin off the driver > 3300 rpm) like 15 years ago,

- drives would curve more, and wouldn't bounce down the fairway like it had landed on an airstrip
- shot making / cutting - drawing irons on command would be necessary again

How many wedge shots would have spun back into the water on 18, unless they knew how to take spin off a shot

- If they are going to bifurcate the game, why not with a $4 golf ball?