The idea that better equipment "levels the playing field" is interesting to me. Pros like Nicklaus have complained about this, and say that this leveling brings the journeyman pro closer to the top pro, making it harder for the best players to really distinguish themselves. Then, in the next breath, he says modern equipment has increased the gap between pro and amateur. So, equipment technology brings some players closer together, but spreads others farther apart. I don't see the logic in this.

But that's a discussion for another time, and one I'll likely enter in this column sooner or later.

So, while you can complain about his style, he's earned the right to speak out.

I don't think anyone here is denying that.

DLT said on August 1, 2007:

What I believe is being overlooked in this discussion is that modern equipment is throwing off the balance of skills required to complete. More than ever, it's a putting contest on tour, and I for one, think this is a shame.

I suspect you're going on a hunch here without any actual evidence of this. Greens in regulation is still a larger determinant in success than putting, and Ben Hogan and Bobby Jones before him both complained or commented on how large a role putting played in championship golf. Putting has always been a big part of golf.

Though I appreciate your effort to turn the comment thread on this article into an equipment debate, I'm not going to allow it. Please take that discussion elsewhere - the discussion here is on the article above.

So, while you can complain about his style, he's earned the right to speak out. I'm sure substance abuse in golf is lower than in most sports, but the modern emphasis on training and power has undoubtedly brought with it the temptation to gain an edge.

What I believe is being overlooked in this discussion is that modern equipment is throwing off the balance of skills required to complete. More than ever, it's a putting contest on tour, and I for one, think this is a shame. Metal woods, hybrids, 'game improvement irons', square grooves, ball technology, all act to reduce the ball-striking skill required to compete on tour. In baseball, when pitching began to dominate too much in the early 70's, they lowered the mound. Right now, the integrity of the game is being compromised. Modern equipment is supposed to make the game more enjoyable for the average player. But it does not. It simply changes expectations. Players simply expect better misses.

From my teens until a few years ago, I played Hogan Apex PCs, and I regret to say I've gone to the dark side with a set of Titleist 735s. These are great clubs, but they do have the effect of cutting out the highs and lows. Some of the joy of hitting a really great shot is lost, as is much of the ability to shape shots. This can't be a good thing for the game, especially at the highest level. Hogan is not revered for his putting after all. The game has been seduced by Dr. Feelgood.

Golf is lucky that the game hasn't been tainted, and likely won't, now that a testing policy seems iminent.

It is suggested here that performance enhancing drugs is an issue. Coffee is a drug, Diet Coke is a neurotoxin which alters body chemistry, Sugar changes body chemistry as does booze. Advil does, antibiotics do and so on. Everything you ingest changes body chemistry. Is this the definition that constitutes cheating - ingestion?

No - it seems you're the only person who is failing to apply common sense here. By your logic, food lets us live, and we certainly perform in an enhanced way when alive versus when dead, right?

Application of a little common sense is necessary or discussion is meaningless.

teeitup said on July 26, 2007:

I'm not sure I'm comfortable with some agency or government official telling me - by using athletes as an example, that I can't "take" something that will improve my existence.

They're not. I took steroids (prednisone) recently to clear up my laryngitis. If I'm not competing in a sport, then I'd be stupid - as would you - to follow rules that don't apply to you to help you overcome problems.

Besides, as you say, steroids are illegal without a prescription, as are many of the PEDs being discussed. Did Barry Bonds have a heart transplant that necessitated the use of steroids? Is HGH ever really prescribed to someone healthy enough to play a professional sport? No.

You keep telling people to "do the research," but frankly, you're coming off as a bit of a loon and a conspiracy theorist. I have a degree in medicinal chemistry and JP is a medical doctor.

I just read a study that said diet has no effect on cancer. None whatsoever. It's as credible as the reports I read years ago that said drinking green tee reduces the chances of getting cancer, and all they show is how little we know about all of cancer's forms and causes.

At least you stopped short of lecturing us about chemtrails.

teeitup said on July 26, 2007:

Case in point. The Baltimore pitcher who died. It was said he died form performance enhancing drugs - ephedrine. It was not mentioned that he as a diet coke addict - a neuron toxin (do the research). Immediately there were outcries to ban this dangerous substance. Yet the proof was "he had it in his locker so that must have done it." A perfectly effective and safe supplement was nearly banned - a rational Utah judge tossed the notion out because there as no proof.

Do your own research. The Utah judge's decision was overturned and eventually the U.S. Supreme court decided not to even hear the later appeal. Ephedra is similar in structure to amphetamine and methamphetamine. It's no wonder it helps you lose weight - you become a tweaker.

It also wasn't alleged he was using it simply because it was in his locker. His wife admitted to his use (hence her lawsuit) of the drug. "Do your research."

teeitup said on July 26, 2007:

The most common "enhancers" on the PGA tour beta blockers and marijuana.

Okay, now you're just pulling things from your keister.

It should be noted the beta blocker discussion is 15 years old. Nick Price was prescribed them for a heart condition and actively sought to find alternatives because he felt he couldn't play good golf while on them.

And hey, while we're in the process of making unsubstantiated claims and, you know, just making stuff up, yeah, those Q-Link necklaces really work! And those Trion:Z bracelets too! Yeah! Oh, and Feng-Shui, man, if your golf bag is not optimized to maximize the good energy, you're leaving three shots per round out on the course!

I said that if a list of banned substances was put out, players could rationalize the continued use of substances not on the list.

To curtail such thinking, perhaps the Tour's policy could include the ability to add substances to the list and penalize players after the fact and on a case-by-case basis within, say, six months to avoid nonsensical situations. That way, if MiraclePED isn't on the list but it's known to be a performance-enhancing drug, players will still not want to take the drug because they could have their pension stripped, their Tour card taken away, etc. if the drug is later added to the list.

This could be also be done by listing "any other drug deemed to be performance-enhancing and without a valid medical prescription and purpose" in the banned substance list.

I would agree with anyone who says that such legislation or such a rule is murky at best, but the whole "drug-testing" scene is murky at best, particularly without bloodwork.

I haven't given this idea much thought, but it came to me and I wanted to jot it down.

Many musicians take beta blockers, drugs initially designed for and still used for lowering blood pressure. They have the side benefit of calming 'nerves' and decreasing tremors and jitters...concert musicians use them because they play more fluidly and accurately with beta blockers on board. I have heard some golfers have used them to combat the yips.

Most of what people think of when they speak about 'steroids' or 'juice' are those drugs which help the user build muscle mass. These include anabolic steroids and hormones in the growth hormone cascade. These drugs are extremely dangerous, because (simplifying here) they cause many things in the body to 'grow,' not just muscles. They speed recovery from injury, but may also increase susceptibility to injury. It hardly needs to be said that the use of these sorts of drugs by children is highly dangerous, and for me this is the most compelling reason for making the use and distribution of these drugs illegal and for eradicating them from sports.

Golfers do cheat, of course, in ways other than juicing. Erik linked articles about Gary Player; Player's trick of tamping down rough grass with a wood and then 'changing his mind' and playing an iron isn't something exclusive to him, I don't think. I saw on TV a similar ploy by Paul Azinger that I believe had to be deliberate cheating. He had a lie in medium to long but whispy rough. He had a short to middle iron, and would sole the club behind the ball and take 'practice' back swings, in which he would be brushing down the grass behind the ball. It looked like cheating because he must have done it 15-20 times, and was definitely pushing the grass down in the process. His preshot routine from the fairway had no such practice backswings.

While most people wouldn't consider things like stealing signs in baseball as cheating in the same way as using juice, I know Erik's point: on some level, it's all the same.

It's not a perfect world, and we'll never eradicate cheating. But we can make sure that the most dangerous forms are banished, and, when someone does manage to sneak past the radar that they are severely punished.

Although the PGA itself has a large responsibility in this matter as well. The players themselves ought to have enough respect for the integrity of game to be cooperative in its policing. Part of the reason that MLB was so slow to react to its own pharmaceutical epidemic was that the MLBPA stonewalled the league on the issue for so many years.

And while it's encouraging to know that the Tour likely will have a policy in place before long, MLB's experience has shown that PED policy and enforcement is a learning process and that the initial policy may be lacking in some areas. I'm hopeful that the Tour getting involved now will prevent a Bonds/McGwire/Sosa/Palmiero like quagmire that will drag the game down into the muck with the rest of its professional sports brethren.

That said, I don't dispute the fact that Player utilized poor judgement (or no judgement) in making those comments - especially in making them when he did. But if it's at all helpful in keeping the game from scandal then in my opinion the end justifies the means.