It was a little more than 2 weeks ago when John Daly surprised the golf community with an abrupt & unfiltered announcement that he was done with the game.  JD was quick to retract the statement, pointing to overwhelming mental, physical and financial frustrations that have affected his play on Tour.  It seems that the week break from PGA play coupled with the relaxed atmosphere of a Pro-Am have helped Daly’s golf game.

After 10 holes of play at the newly renovated Monterey Peninsula Country Club course, Daly and his partner, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, sit at 2-under par in this weekends AT&T Pebble Beach Open.  As usual, Daly is receiving lots of support from the gallery and the environment is providing him and Romo the opportunity to have fun playing the game.

Hopefully the fun has only just begun as the Golf Channel’s newest reality show, “Being John Daly” premiers on March 2.

Even though Phil Mickelson respectfully left his Ping Eye-2 out of his bag for this weekend’s Northern Trust Open at storied Riviera Country Club, the ongoing “Groove Controversy” just won’t seem to go away.  Rather than keep the focus on individual players and subject them to media ridicule (many pros using the Ping Eye-2 have recently been scrutinized and labeled as cheaters), PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem took the lead and commented about the 2010 Rule Change on this week.

At Wednesday’s News Conference at this weekend’s PGA Tour Event in Pacific Palisades, CA, Finchem outlined a 3-option strategy to work towards resolving the “Groove Controversy”:

1. Do Nothing – things remain Status Quo — Finchem acknowledged that this is certainly not a longterm solution as the PGA Tour Rules Committee firmly believes that clubs similar to the Ping Eye-2 provide players with an unfair advantage.  When it comes to fairness in competition, the Tour will not waiver
2. Ping’s Generosity – CEO of Ping John Solheim dismisses the Legal Loophole — at the heart of the controversy is a the ruling from the 1990’s in which the court ruled in favor of Ping.  As part of the agreement, Ping would stop manufacturing the club, but players would still be allowed to use it.  Such precedent creates the “loophole” , and it would be a tremendous gesture for Solheim to give up such leverage.
3. Group Ruling – nominate a special 5-person committee to determine whether or not a rule should be made to “close the loophole” — in essence this would mean that the “Groove Controversy” would work its way through the legal system.  Both sides are already beginning to form their positions, with Solheim stating that he didn’t believe that a local Tour rule could overrule a court decision, and Finchem saying, “I politely think he’s mistaken.”

This will be an ongoing issue especially if the only way to resolve it is via the legal system, and players are beginning to voice their opinions.  I’m just curious to see how long Lefty’s Ping Eye-2 stays out of his bag . . ,

Earlier this month, EA Sports announced that they will honor their decade-plus long relationship with Tiger Woods and keep him as the feature name & face of their PGA Tour video games.  The President of EA Sports, Peter Moore, indicated that Tiger’s impact on the game outweighs his recent “off the course” issues, a sentiment not very well supported by the majority of Woods’ sponsors who recently reduced his role in their advertising campaigns, if not in their entirety.

This past year, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 was voted the “Nintendo Wii Best Sports Game of 2009″ by IGN Entertainment, a global leader in game technology.  Currently, EA Sports is beta testing their newest golf masterpiece, Tiger Woods PGA Tour Online.  This new edition to the PGA Tour family has taken a significant amount of time to develop and is said to be a breakthrough in golf gaming.  Gamers will have the ability to create & customize their own virtual golfer and play Golf Live!, a social network which enables them to compete online in tournaments, with friends or individually.  EA has not confirmed a launch date at this time, but are offering a Free Demo at http://tigerwoodsonline.ea.com/.

Interestingly, EA is the only company licensed by the PGA to make games that carry its name.  The sports multimedia giant has free reign to replace Woods’ name with another Tour member of their choosing, or could go back to the days when the game was simply called PGA Tour, but for now they are sticking with Tiger . . . as well they should.  Tiger’s marketability may have taken a huge hit over the past month, but he is still the top name in golf.  Good for EA to recognize this and for supporting Woods in a time that many companies are too concerned with their own image to take risks.  Over the long run, this will prove a smart decision for EA Sports; golfers and gamers alike won’t soon forget it!

Personally, I can’t wait for Tiger’s triumphant return to the PGA Tour, but checking out the new EA Sports Tiger Woods PGA Tour Online will be a close second, especially if it’s as much fun as initial reviews are indicating.