Nonconforming Driver

Thomas is left shaking his head. "I am concerned that the decisions or the rules with regard to equipment proposals are being based on the performance of literally 1/1,000th of 1 percent of the golfing population," he says, adding, "the USGA is doing something for the sake of doing something."

Executives at Nike and Titleist declined to comment for this story. Ping provided a statement on behalf of chairman and CEO John Solheim which called the proposal "a huge step backwards," but even manufacturers differ. John Hoeflich, senior vice president of Nickent Golf and one of the game's most respected club designers, has no problem with the grooves proposal per se, but doubts its ultimate effect. As milled wedges with more articulated grooves become standard, Hoeflich says, "Why not regulate that? [The USGA] has to react to it. The point is, though, that Tiger Woods could play with a wedge with no grooves and knock it three feet from the hole, anyway."

So it seems the modern USGA has painted itself into a corner on distance. Of course, Golf House still has the game's nuclear bomb at its disposal: rolling back the ball. A shorter ball for tour players (while the USGA has established a set of specifications under which "approved" balls must be manufactured, golf remains the only major professional sport that does not currently mandate an "official" ball) offers a lasting solution while preserving classic architecture. While that option might please people like Beman and Nicklaus, it also has its critics.

"A rollback would be suicide for the USGA," insists Thomas. Hoeflich agrees. "If the USGA rolls back the ball by say, 20 yards, [it] will lose the consent of the governed," he says. "I myself believe in playing by the rules, but the day they implement that rule I'm going to buy 48 dozen Pro V1xs, put them in my garage, and play them as long as they last. Then it's Katy-bar-the-door. Why not play a nonconforming driver or put ChapStick on the face of the club? There's a domino effect on people's opinion about rules."

One has to wonder if the USGA leadership would like a mulligan on its recent equipment decisions. "I think if we all had it to do over again ... we all would say that distance controls should have been imposed a lot earlier," says past president Murphy. "I don't think there's a significant amount of argument about that." When asked if such a rollback is inevitable, Driver says, "It would not be appropriate for me to predict in any way what future executive committees will do."

Corporate partnerships: It's unlikely Driver will do anything that will alter the organization's culture more drastically or more enduringly than his pioneering of corporate sponsorships. Whether one sees the marketing deals with American Express and Lexus as "sell-outs" or as the logical next steps for a revenue-hungry charitable organization, the question remains: How will the average member of the USGA and/or the average golfer ultimately benefit from these deals? As for individual USGA members, Driver points to better management of their information and rewards. As for nonmembers, he adds, "I think [American Express and Lexus] will teach us how to better identify segments of the population who are avid golfers, how to communicate with them, where to do it and how to do it. We've never done this as intensely or, frankly, as well as the manufacturers--or any business." (Driver was on the executive committee when the USGA shuttered its acclaimed in-house magazine, Golf Journal). USGA management has already seen one benefit: leased Lexus automobiles have already been delivered to senior directors.

The notion of the USGA partnering with corporations makes some traditionalists, including one former USGA president, uncomfortable. "I knew they were possible," he said, "but I feared commercializing a pure charity, which was unique in sports and revered for its long, pure traditions." But the same past president admits, "I felt the income from such deals would always be there for the asking, maybe at a time when the USGA was in true need of additional funds."

In a recent column for the website golfobserver.com, Hannigan reflected on the late Howard Clark, who was both a USGA executive committee member and CEO of American Express. "Trust me," wrote Hannigan, "[Clark] would not have bought into a USGA that thought it needed to do deals with his company. He would have understood that the selling of the soul is part of such a process and it's not worth the price."

Limited to two one-year terms, few USGA presidents fashion true legacies. That suits Driver, who claims to be uninterested in epitaphs. Driver's approach to the USGA work is tough love. He displays little patience for critics, many of whom he views as uninformed on issues such as distance, balls and clubs. In fact, he often begins and ends his answers on these topics by staking out higher ground, saying, "Most people just don't understand the complexity."

As the end of his presidency nears, Driver seems focused on effectiveness--getting what he sees as a wobbly USGA safely embarked into the 21st century. If the role of the USGA leader is that of a steward, Driver has been badly miscast. But if that role is to reposition the association by wrenching it from its venerable roots and steering it toward a changing future, Driver will go down as an undeniable, unforgettable, unflinching force.

"There are times when you need to be a steward and there are times when you need to change," says Reg Murphy. "There are times when you have to change the direction of an organization and times when doing things as you've always done them is a good thing, because that preserves the game in another way."

So, Murphy is asked, where are we with Walter Driver?

"Walter," he says, "is a change agent."