Tour drug testing lacks credibilty; LPGA commish has Asian challenge

November 4, 11:58 AMGolf ExaminerDave Seanor

Previous Next

Comment Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Golf Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

New LPGA commissioner Mike Whan.
AP Photo/Tina Fineberg

Jet lag is behind me, my email inbox has been cleared and the bills have been paid (at least most of them) after a nine-day sojourn to Asia. First the Asia Pacific Golf Summit in Kuala Lumpur, then the Asian Amateur Championship at Mission Hills in China.

The fact that the third annual Summit attracted more than 500 delegates – twice what it drew last year at Mission Hills – and featured Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Peter Thomson to the program speaks volumes about golf activity in Asia. With the golf business comatose in America and the UK, and showing little more than a pulse in Europe, the Summit in KL was teeming with architects, developers and suppliers all hoping to make a play in the region.

The Asian Amateur, won by Han Chang-won of Korea, was a pleasant surprise. The field featured 116 talented players from 34 members of the Asia Pacific Golf Confederation, all vying for the berth in the Masters that went to the winner as well as spots in International Final Qualifying for the British Open that were awarded to Han and runner-up Eric Chun, a Korean-born sophomore at Northwestern University. Scoring was good and the event generated considerable coverage in the region, to the relief of Augusta National Golf Club and the R&A, which devised the tournament in an effort to raise the profile of amateur golf in Asia.

There was one stunner at Mission Hills. Even though I was surrounded by golf dignitaries, golf media and a dozen green jackets, not once did I hear mention that the LPGA had selected a new commissioner. That lack of buzz should be scary to the new guy, Mike Whan, whose success will hinge on his ability to monetize the Asian market. His biggest threat is the migration of Korean talent to their home tour and other circuits in Asia, followed by European and American stars who will have no choice but to chase the money.

Meanwhile, the other significant news in golf this week is the one-year PGA Tour suspension of Doug Barron for violating the Tour’s anti-doping rules. What a joke.

The Tour has a policy that it won’t reveal the nature of doping violations, so the public has no idea what substance Barron might have taken. It could be something related to a medication he failed to register with the Tour, it could be beta-blockers (which Barron has acknowledged using in the past), or it could be recreational drugs.

In any case, Barron is a marginal player in pro golf. He made four starts on the Nationwide Tour this year (where he presumably was tested) and one on the PGA Tour. In 238 starts on the PGA Tour since 1996, Barron has never won and has posted only 12 top 10 finishes.

By withholding details about the violation, PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem continues to avoid the issue of drug use on Tour, insisting that pro golfers are so unlike the rest of the population – indeed, exempt from human nature – that they would never be tempted to seek chemical assistance in their quest to join or remain among the sport’s wealthy elite, or to seek the pleasures of a joint during down time, or be tempted in the company of their entourage or other celebs to snort a line of coke.

That isn’t to suggest the use of steroids and recreational drugs is rampant in pro golf. Compared to other sports, golf is squeaky clean. But while steroids and golf may not mix, who’s to say what other concoctions are out there that might help a player gain some clubhead speed or recover more quickly from an injury? As for recreational drugs, let’s get real. I’d bet my life that more than one player has flunked that test in the three seasons since the Tour implemented its anti-doping procedures, but we’ll never know. The Tour has said it will not reveal violations that involve recreational drugs, citing personal privacy.

In reality, Finchem doesn’t want a smidgen of tarnish on the Tour’s image. Witness how fast the Tour went into damage control at the Presidents Cup, inducing Robert Allenby to recant his comments about well-known party animal Anthony Kim drinking all night on the eve of their singles match.

(For a couple of good takes on the Tour and drug testing, check out Matt Rudy’s blog post on golfdigest.com and Steve Elling’s post on cbssports.com.)

It will be interesting to see how golfers fare under the more rigorous drug testing at Rio during the 2016 Olympic Games. In the meantime, pro golf’s anti-doping policy has little credibility – Doug Barron’s plight notwithstanding.