First golfer busted for PEDs

[pittpanther]

Glad to hear the tour does random testing. I was disappointed to read that the Tour is not required to do anything if a player tests positive for recreational drugs.

So cocaine or marijuana is OK. Steroids, not OK.

Where does crystal meth fall in the spectrum of drugs? Or crack?

[plugged]

Where does crystal meth fall in the spectrum of drugs? Or crack?

Have you ever seen a tweaker? Those guys wouldn't last two minutes on a muni course, even with talent.

[Jay-Bird]

Have you ever seen a tweaker? Those guys wouldn't last two minutes on a muni course, even with talent.

Andre Agassi was tweaked out of his gourd for a while - while plaing tennis. US Airforce pilots routinely took speed on long flights in WWII. At the right dose - it COULD be very beneficial to performance - in the SHORT TERM of course.

Once I played softball on a team that had a tweaker. He showed up one game geeked out - and proceeded to hit MONSTER home runs.

[microcrayfish]

I doubt meth would work well for golf. Sure you might start hitting 350 yard drives but when you start trying for the same distance with your putts you're gonna be in trouble. It's hard to say whether or not there will be many golfers getting busted for PEDs. Obviously there's a lot of pressure on these guys with only so many tour cards out there so I can see people trying to get that extra edge if they're looking like missing out. Then again, you can still make a pretty decent living playing golf on some of the less prestigious tours so maybe guys won't risk getting banned. I certainly wouldn't be surprised if a few more test positive though.

[Gerardv]

I dont think this will ever be a problem on the PGA tour. I just dont know of a drug that would be beneficial to a golfer. Golf is such a balance of power, touch, creativity, good temperment, coordination...I dont know of a drug that would enhance all of these.

They used to say that about baseball too, that you would become muscle bound and lose your bat speed if you got too big in the upper body.

Look what happened there.

[TN94z]

different form of steroid. both anabolic but differnet none the less.

Why do you say they are different? I have friends that have been through many many cycles over the years and they get most of their stuff through doctors' offices. One of them went on to win a national bodybuilding championship.

[NormH3]

Andre Agassi was tweaked out of his gourd for a while - while plaing tennis. US Airforce pilots routinely took speed on long flights in WWII. At the right dose - it COULD be very beneficial to performance - in the SHORT TERM of course.

why would you allow him to play?

[MeanDeen]

I was just looking on the Adams Tour Winter Series to see if my friend was playing today and I saw Doug Barron's name on the list. It doesn't look like he played though. May not be the same guy though?

[DBeane]

I agree somewhat - but when lots of money is on the line people are going to try anything - look at the "Stack and Tilt"

LOL, Amen.

Minnie tours and drug usage, it would be easy to decide who to test, it would be the guy whos Mom was following him around in the fairway screaming "what pawn shop did you take my silverware to this time!!!" -Beane

[MiniMoe]

There are so medications on that list that it is not difficult to mess up and take something you should not have.... especially golfers that do not have trainers and people to help keep them from unknowingly taking something they should not. Just this last year when signing up for the US Open qualifier, I was taking some medication for small staff infection that would not heal. I talked to the Dr. and was told the medications was a type of steroid. I checked the list, and the medication was not on the list, but it could have been very easily. And if it were on the list, even though I was only using a very small amount, I might have failed a drug test. Was I trying to cheat, of course not. Just saying.. honest mistakes do happen. Lets wait and see what really happened.

[whetstone]

Wrong. When a doctor perscribes an anabolic steroid, it is exactly the same compound taken by athletes and bodybuilders. When a doctor prescribes hgh, it is the exact same hgh taken by athletes and bodybuilders. There are PED's that a doc cannot perscribe, but not many.

different form of steroid. both anabolic but differnet none the less.

[misty_mountainhop]

I dont think this will ever be a problem on the PGA tour. I just dont know of a drug that would be beneficial to a golfer. Golf is such a balance of power, touch, creativity, good temperment, coordination...I dont know of a drug that would enhance all of these.

Propanolol or any other beta-blocker for that matter. They slow heart rate i.e. control your nerves. I think they antagonize noradrenaline (norepinephrine for you trans-Atlantic cousins!).

Snooker had an issue with this type of drug a while back. I'm sure it's illegal now. As for weight training/anabolics.....what do they think they're gaining? Sure they may gain a bit of raw power but big deal; golf has always been more about timing and control than pure power. Let them; if they're on anabolics I'll send flowers when they keel over from a coronary later in life.

[2bGood]

Half the time I am not even sure why they test for steriods, as can you tell who is on roids just by looking at the guy:

Ben Johson:



Arnold Schwarzenegger:



Greg Valentino:




Doug Baron:

[RS22]

Half the time I am not even sure why they test for steriods, as can you tell who is on roids just by looking at the guy:

LOL but that's kind of a misleading comparison.

Arnold, yes was on juice, but lifted weights 5-6 days a week for years and years and also dieted for maximum muscle growth. Greg Valentino used steroids but he also injected himself with Synthol which is an oil that fills up an area to make it look bigger but the strength isn't any different. Google image search 'Synthol arms' and you'll see. You can take different forms of steroids and, if you aren't lifting massive amounts of weights, will improve your strength but not to the degree you can pick them out of a lineup. HGH can improve eyesight, repair injured body parts, etc. etc. which is why its such a wonder drug for older men when they get it prescribed to them. I'd say HGH, taken under the supervision of a doctor, wouldn't make you noticeably ripped, but it could repair problems that have come on from age which would give you an unfair advantage over your fellow competitors of a similar age.

[whetstone]

Do you have any published medical literature to back up this assertion?

if they're on anabolics I'll send flowers when they keel over from a coronary later in life.

[Chas]

Propanolol or any other beta-blocker for that matter. They slow heart rate i.e. control your nerves. I think they antagonize noradrenaline (norepinephrine for you trans-Atlantic cousins!).

Yes, sometimes I think (after a particularly tough round) that a good strong prophylactic dose of propranolol would have saved half a dozen strokes at least.

*sigh*

[PhilsRHman]

Three thoughts:

1. I agree that it would be more likely to see a problem with drugs that improve concentration and level moods. Others could weigh in on adderall, but I know it's a big thing for college kids who need to concentrate and study. As have been mentioned, there are plenty of others that could keep you calm. Are these on the list?

2. Compare the conditioning of today's golfers vs. 15 years ago and I think there is a far greater chance that someone will be tempted to use steroids or hgh to get into that shape. I saw an interview that said Villlegas was a scrawny kid in college and now he's ripped. Tiger looks like an NFL safety. And on the whole, these guys have such ripped cores, which PEDs would help with. Look at A-Rod, he never had the jacked body like McGwire or Sosa. You can use PEDs to train in any way you want, not simply to get massive.

3. The money is so big that if you're an aspiring Tour player, you could easily justify it as an informed gamble. The top 88 guys on the money list have made $1M this year. All the way to top 140 made $500K. It proves to me that hte most important thing is simply getting to the Tour because you only have to be OK within that class of golfer to rake in 10-20 times what you would as club pro. By contrast, only the top money earner on the Nationwide cracked $500K. That's where I'd expect the abuse to come in, the guys trying to make that leap who think they just need to get into better shape, or need meds that will give them that mental edge.

[misty_mountainhop]

Do you have any published medical literature to back up this assertion?

Ummm.....yes. As a first point of call, try the following link:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/en...AND%20coronary (351 hits without trying; all peer-reviewed publications) Or, using Google: http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=ana...s+%2B+coronary Look. Believe what you will. Mess with your body how you like but don't expect there to be no side-effects.