There is to be no dramatic change in the legality of over-size metal drivers such as the Callaway Big Bertha. But the US Golf Association announced at the Olympic Club yesterday that, starting this autumn, all future clubs will be subject to a test protocol to establish their "spring-like" effect.

"Naturally I'm pleased with the outcome," said Don Dye, president and CEO of Callaway. "What the USGA said today was substantially different from what they were saying a month ago. I can only conclude that they were responding to public opinion."

In the words of USGA executive director David Fay, "virtually all" of the existing clubs will conform to the new standard. And in adding that there may be some exceptions, he was not prepared to be more specific at this stage.

The announcement, details of which were given in advance to the Royal and Ancient, is largely in line with expectations. It has allowed the USGA to make good on their promise of action, while avoiding a potentially crippling clash with the manufacturers.

Legal action had been threatened if their equipment was undermined, but Fay insisted that such matters had no effect on the USGA's decision. And staying with the issue of equipment, he later said that no decision was taken on the legality of the broomhandle putter, which has been the subject of considerable speculation in recent months.

The primary issue was reminiscent of the heated debate over the square grooves in Ping irons which, ironically, was first raised in similar circumstances, prior to the last staging of the US Open at the Olympic Club in 1987.

On that occasion, the argument ended in court, with Ping essentially winning when the USGA agreed to "grandfather" all the old Ping square-grooved clubs. In other words, those clubs already in existence were accepted as legal by the USGA.

Equally interesting is the belief that one of the USGA's main investigative targets this time around was the Ping ISI Titanium driver, which was submitted for approval on January 9th of this year and is still being evaluated.

Asked if he had the Ping club in mind as one of the possible exceptions, Fay replied: "I'd like to stay away from specific manufacturers." It was that sort of press conference: the USGA were clearly intent on peace rather than war.

"In the literal sense, all clubs have some `spring-like' effect because all clubs deform at impact," added Fay. "Our objective is to define that effect during a two-hour test and set limits on it by measuring the rebound velocity of a golf ball off a club-face. All future clubs will need to meet these standards."

The standard, to be based on a plate which approximates to most titanium clubs currently on the market, is to be submitted to the manufacturers within the next three weeks. There will then be a meeting between the USGA and the manufacturers after which it is hoped the standard will be formally accepted.