Ben Crane finished with a one shot lead over Marc Leishman, Michael Sim and Brandt Snedeker at the Farmers Insurance Open to secure his first PGA Tour victory since 2005.

Crane began the final round two shots behind Ryuji Imada of Japan but he quickly overturned that deficit with three birdies in the first five holes. A 45-foot birdie putt at the 11th helped him extend his advantage at the top of the leaderboard.

Crane, the only player among the top eight not to make a birdie over the final seven holes, closed with a 2-under 70 ending an 0-for-98 drought and sending him to the Masters. He finished at 13-under 275 and won $954,000. One of the most genuine reactions of the tournament was when Crane turned to Imada and asked, “Did I win?” in all seriousness.

In other news out of Torrey Pines, things were less exciting for Phil Mickelson who started the final round four shots behind, and on the first hole faced a tough chip up the slope. He pulled his (controversial) Ping wedge and watched it roll 30 feet by the cup, leading to the first of three straight bogeys to take himself out of the tournament.

In other tournament news, Scott McCarron, who accused Phil Mickelson of “cheating” for using the Ping-Eye 2 wedge (which is approved for play), missed the cut. In a statement released Monday, McCarron discussed his original comments to the San Francisco Chronicle regarding Mickelson and other players using Ping-Eye 2 clubs that have grooves which no longer conform to USGA and PGA Tour standards, but are still considered legal because they were grandfathered in two decades ago.

In the interest of fairness, McCarron has denied actually calling Phil a cheater. This is from his interview with the San Francisco Chronicle:
“I responded, ‘It’s cheating and I am appalled Phil has put it in play,’” McCarron stated. “I never called Phil Mickelson a cheater. That being said, I want my fans, sponsors, and most importantly, my fellow players, to know that I will not be silenced and I will continue my efforts to get the groove issue resolved.”

For its part, the PGA Tour has stepped in, issuing a statement that read, in part, “Because the use of pre-1990 Ping-Eye 2 irons is permitted for play, public comments or criticisms characterizing their use as a violation of the rules of golf as promulgated by the USGA are inappropriate at best.”

While McCarron has been the most vocal adversary of this decision, others have echoed his sentiments.

“I think cheating is not the right word to use,” Robert Allenby said. “But it’s definitely an advantage. … I just believe that even if they are legal, you shouldn’t be using them. Just because someone has a couple sitting in their garage somewhere or they’ve got them off eBay or wherever. I just don’t think that’s the integrity of the game.”

“It’s a very strong word to use, cheating. It wouldn’t be my choice to use them, but it’s obviously not against the rules or else he wouldn’t do it,” Westwood said. “I could do it more than anybody else because I’ve got thousands of Ping wedges. I have the opportunity to do it and I don’t.”

On the flip side, Mickelson isn’t the only golfer still using the Ping Eye 2 wedge; John Daley, Hunter Mahan and Dean Wilson have all used the club this season.

Square grooves no longer are allowed on the PGA Tour because of a new USGA policy effective this year that requires grooves in irons to be more a more shallow V-shape, which generate less spin.

However, the Ping-Eye 2 wedges made before April 1, 1990, are approved for competition because of a lawsuit that Ping settled with the PGA Tour and USGA some 20 years ago.

It has not been proven whether the grooves of a 20-year-old golf club — Mickelson played them in college at Arizona State and found this wedge in his garage — spin more than V-shaped grooves made with today’s technology.

So, what do you think? McCarron: looking out for the integrity of the game or sore loser?

Post by Michele Minten