Today’s New York Times features a report on the investigation by Canadian authorities of Dr. Anthony Galea, a prominent sports medicine specialist whose patients include Tiger Woods. Galea is suspected of providing athletes with performance-enhancing drugs.
Woods has not been linked to such drugs; he has been tested by the PGA Tour, which implemented anti-doping procedures in 2008. According to the Times, Galea visited Woods’ home at Isleworth at least four times to administer platelet-rich plasma therapy to assist Tiger’s recovery from June 2008 knee surgery.
The Times reports that Woods last had plasma therapy from Galea in August, after complaining of knee discomfort at the British Open. But Woods reportedly contacted Galea as recently as October, saying the knee was still bothering him. Since returning to competition last February, Woods has told the media that his rehab has been progressing on schedule and he’s been pain free.
Platelet-rich plasma therapy is not banned under World Anti-Doping Association guidelines. But its widespread use by elite athletes eager to accelerate recovery from injuries underscores the lengths they’ll go to maintain, if not enhance, performance. While it’s not likely golfers would resort to using anabolic steroids, whose effects likely would diminish performance, there is concern that the high stakes of pro golf – and the fact there are no guaranteed contracts as in team sports – might tempt injured players to risk taking banned substances such as human growth hormone to speed recovery.
Mark Steinberg runs the golf division of IMG and personally represents Woods. When contacted by the Times regarding Tiger’s relationship with Galea, Steinberg pleaded via email: “I would really ask that you guys don’t write this? If Tiger is NOT implicated, and won’t be, let’s please give the kid a break.”
The revelation that Woods is still experiencing knee pain adds another element to conjecture about his return after taking an “indefinite break” from golf while he attempts to repair his marriage. He went 0-for-4 in major championships this year, greatly deflating his air of invincibility. An aching knee would be one more chink in his armor, casting doubts about his longevity as he pursues Jack Nicklaus’s record of 18 major championships.
Meanwhile, if Galea is found to have illegally treated patients with performance-enhancing drugs, his association with Woods will be another headache for the PGA Tour. It already faces the prospects of limited fan interest during Woods’ absence and the retreat of potential sponsors who want to distance themselves from Tiger after he was revealed to be a serial philanderer. The notion that the world’s top golfer would seek help from a doctor who supplied performance-enhancing drugs to other athletes would severely undermine the Tour’s claim that its players are above the anti-doping fray that has tainted other sports.
Comments
Please give me a break you guys are going too far with this
Who cares about his knee? Tiger has larger problems, and the time off will help it heal. Tiger should take his mistress "family" and join Amway, as they also screw anything that moves. Amway is a scam, and here's why: Amway wants to pay out as little money as they can get away with, so they support the higher level IBOs ripping off their downline via the tool scam. As a result, about 99% of IBOs operate at a net loss, while the top 1% make several TIMES more from their Amway tool scam than from the Amway products. Read about it on my blog, I suggest you start here: Google "Amway the rest of the story" and forward the information to everyone you know, so they don't get scammed.
This conjecture is uncalled for, you're over the line.
An attack article based on guesses and perhaps a desire to see a giant fall. Why write a speculative piece designed to create doubt about Tiger and hurt the PGA tour? Dave, you're a much better journalist than this.
Tim, Bob:
Thanks for reading, but I'm a little baffled by your responses. First of all, the giant has already fallen. Far. I'm not suggesting Woods has used performance-enhancing drugs. Rather, his treatment by Dr. Galea is an example of how athletes will push the envelope in the arena of performance enhancement (most of which is legal), and anyone who believes that golfers are somehow immune from the temptation to go over the line is living in fantasyland. I'm just saying that if Galea is found guilty, Woods' mere association with him is problematic for the Tour. As for his knees, Tiger has now had, what, four surgeries? I don't think it's irresponsible to speculate that that history, plus news that he's still experiencing discomfort (as reported in the Times), doesn't bode well for the long haul once Woods resumes the Nicklaus chase. Lastly, with regard to hurting the Tour, it's not my fault that Ponte Vedra put all its eggs in Tiger's basket. Live by the legend, die by the legend.
Well most likey Tiger could be using he said to bench 300 lbs easy now I am 225 lbs and 6 feet tall I do 405 on the bench , he is 6 feet tall and 190 lbs ?
If his sex drive is that high as it has been rumored I am both proud and yet dismayed that anyone would think he could keep this pace up without help , people recall this is golfer here you know golf not the NFL types so it could be with all considered the new age of golf A little while back Greg Norman said maybe we should have testing for the PGA tour so you can guess the rest
this is all too funny. the guy is a golf phenom...back in high school do you think he got as much action as the captain of the football team? or the basketball team? or heck even the baseball team? i am willing to bet, no. now he rules his game, he's rich, he's famous...he has groupies. no wonder he couldn't keep his club in the bag. anyone who would be in his shoes would do the same thing. unless you feared getting caught or you wussed out. i find the idea that people are shocked at this, hilarious. you knew it would happen, you know it will again to someone else. lets move on now. amen
Dave, you're doing just fine. Stay on it. Golf deserves to drive him out if he did cheat.
We're not exactly talking about Mr. Clean, are we? Seems El Tigre thought we we're all pretty stupid.
Anybody who's had ACL repair, as I have, would tell you the knee never gets back to what was normal, and there can be lots of setbacks that happen long after surgery. So insinuating he is a liar for saying his knee was fine when it might not have been is going overboard.
His possible association with Galea is a completely different and far more serious matter. What seems most significant and damaging about Galea in the original NYT reporting is that Galea appears to have smuggled substances illegally across the border, and it infers he practiced medicine in the US unlicensed. A physician with even a rudimentary sense of ethics wouldn't engage in such activities. So it is natural to suspect him of doing worse.
This could be the beginning of the same, tragic story we hear about repeatedly in the world of elite athletes: The athletes give access and deference to these shady shaman bearing snakeoil who hover around them. The story never seems to end well.
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