How Stellar Players Get Their "Groove" Back

Way back in July of '09, Fore!BlackGolfers posed the question of whether this year's new groove rules imposed on the PGA players' clubs would register on readers' range finders.
Six months later, there's a simmering suspicion that top players like Phil Mickelson and John Daly might (or might not, in the latter's case) be employing vintage Ping wedges with groove configurations that evade the new rules to their advantage.
In response to a controversy that will surely brew throughout the PGA players' transition to clubs with grooves that conform, guest blogger George Burnette takes aim at the parties responsible for the fracas in the first place...
By George Burnette
I mentioned previously that sports’ governing bodies’ ability to deal with the steroids issue will be tested in the upcoming months and years. As a precursor to that quagmire, the sport of golf is embroiled in a different messy controversy of it’s own. The issue of grooves is at the forefront and the sport’s second most visible player, Phil Mickelson, is at the center of the fuss.
The depth and shape of grooves largely determines the amount of spin one can apply to a shot. The PGA, in it’s zeal to minimize the effect that new technology has on competition, implemented new regulations which prohibit deep grooves with hard square edges. They did this knowing full well there was a loophole involving PING wedges manufactured before April 1, 1990 that could, and likely would, be exploited. The list of exploiters is growing every week and the biggest name amongst them is Mickelson.
Tour vet Scott McCarron has taken the mantle of lead whistleblower. Although he admits that the letter of the law has not been violated, I agree with him that the “spirit of the law” has. As more and more players stick square-grooved PING wedges into their bags, the slope for Tim Finchem and Co. gets slipperier and slipperier.
Will Finchem pull a page out of David Stern’s book and take deliberate and decisive action to nip this controversy in the bud? Will he somehow close the loophole? Will he force PING to file another lawsuit? Will he render an opinion or take sides? Stay tuned to Fore!BlackGolfers for answers and opinions to these and other burning questions.

Feel free to set Burnette straight in the COMMENT BOX (below the funky, flashback video) if you think his opinion's out of bounds.