First Tiger Woods morphed from all-American hero to womanizing tabloid bad boy. Now we have PGA journeyman Scott McCarron calling out squeaky clean Phil Mickelson for using a magic wedge.
Suddenly, the world of professional golf has gone from staid and proper to “Caddy Shack.”
Actually, it’s kind of fun to see the pros getting a little down and dirty.
In case you missed it, McCarron claims he never called Mickelson a cheater for using a square-grooved wedge at Torrey Pines last week. McCarron says only that Mickelson cheated. Hmm … there seems to be some subtle semantics at play here.
Then on Monday, McCarron told reporters that he “will not be silenced” until the issue is resolved.
Mickelson defends himself, saying it’s his right to play Ping-Eye 2 wedges. Those 1980s wedges have square grooves that, if manufactured today, would be deemed illegal under the new rule requiring shallower grooves. Mickelson says he fully understands that without the legal precedence of Ping’s 1993 court agreement with the USGA and PGA Tour, the clubs would be nonconforming.
Going strictly by the rule book, Mickelson isn’t doing anything wrong, but his critics say “Lefty” is violating the spirit of the rules with his ability to make the golf ball do tricks.
This controversy, of course, will soon die down and golf will go back to polite applause – until Tiger returns. When that happens, the hype at today’s Super Bowl media day will seem low-voltage by comparison.
Trivia time
Any golf fan knows that Jack Nicklaus is the leader with 18 major championships, and that Woods is second with 14. But who ranks third?
(Answer below)
Polling
Monday’s “Lunch Special” poll asked readers about the Broncos’ potential Hall of Fame candidates. With Floyd Little and Shannon Sharpe up for a final vote on Saturday, this question was posed: Of the other Broncos deserving consideration, who do you think deserves to be the next player to enter Canton’s hallowed halls?
By this morning, nearly 1,700 votes were cast and the runaway winner was running back Terrell Davis with nearly 41 percent of the vote. A strong No. 2 was linebacker Randy Gradishar with almost 27 percent.
Quotable
“That’s exactly the trap that I’m not going to fall into, which is try to keep up with Peyton,” Saints quarterback Drews Brees, when asked if he or Peyton Manning will dominate in Sunday’s Super Bowl.
Reader’s rant
Ever since the Woodster wrote about running into Hawk in the halls of Dal Ward, there seems to a bit of animosity in Woody’s writings. But, that’s neither here nor there, as we all know that he speaks the truth when it comes to Dan Hawkins. What an utter failure.”
Shane P posting on Denver Post columnist Woody Paige’s take on Colorado football coach Dan Hawkins
Blogspot
Check out Mike Chambers’ latest blog about the lack of any rhyme or reason for the DU Pioneers’ fall from their top spot in the college hockey poll.
In case you missed it
The Pro Bowl’s move to the Sunday before Super Bowl Sunday paid off. The AFC-NFC matchup on ESPN was watched by an average of 12.3 million viewers, the most since 2000. That’s up 40 percent from last year’s Pro Bowl on NBC, which drew 8.8 million viewers when the event was held after the Super Bowl.
In other words, my rant last week about the “Pro Bore,” must mean I’m way out of touch. That’s OK, I’m still not going to watch it.
Trivia answer
Walter Hagen won 11 majors – Two U.S. Opens, four British Opens and five PGA titles.
Patrick Saunders: 303-954-1720 or psaunders@denverpost.com
