LEMONT, Ill. - Hoping to remove suspicions about cheating, the PGA Tour will begin voluntary testing of clubs at tournaments in January.
"A player who has the opportunity to make sure his equipment is conforming, by and large, will take advantage of it," PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem said Tuesday. "Players will all have the comfort level of knowing their equipment is conforming. ...
"The rumors (of cheating with "hot' drivers) are running rampant ... and we need to get the rumors out of the game."
At issue is a physics term called the "coefficient of restitution", which measures how quickly a ball springs off the face of a club at impact.
The tour's test consists of a small, metal weight on a pendulum. Hitting the club with the weight measures vibration and how long the weight makes contact with the face of the driver.
"The machine will be on-site at all of our tours for at least a period of time. Maybe always," Finchem said.
Finchem said he doesn't believe anyone is cheating, but he conceded some players could be using hot drivers without knowing. Most players get their equipment directly from manufacturers.
Tiger Woods has been the most outspoken player about the testing, saying he believes there are illegal clubs on the tour and drivers should be tested every round.
"First hole, here's my driver," Woods said at the Buick Classic. "Make sure it's legal. Green light, red light. That kind of thing."
WESTERN WITHDRAW: Davis Love withdrew from this week's Western Open because of a neck injury.
JUNIORS: Ty Callahan of Tampa shot 67 for the first-round lead in the American Junior Golf Association's Avila Junior Classic in Tampa, and Seminole's Brittany Lincicome shot even 72 to share the girls division lead with Jenny Suh.
