When you come to think of it that is the secret of most of the great holes all over the world. They all have some kind of a twist. C.B. MACDONALD
Bob Harig on Doug Barron losing in court:
In his ruling, Pham wrote that Barron's participating in the qualifying round this week "could raise substantial public policy concerns regarding the enforcement of anti-doping policies in professional sports."
According to Barron's attorney and representative Art Thorne, Barron tested positive this summer for two banned substances -- testosterone and a beta-blocker -- both of which Barron said he has been taking for years as prescribed by a doctor.
Barron had sought a therapeutic use exemption for the drugs last year but was denied by the PGA Tour. His lawyers argued that he was not trying to gain an unfair advantage, that he took the drugs under a doctor's supervision and that he made no secret about it.
Barron, who played in just one PGA Tour event this year -- the Memphis St. Jude Classic where the random drug test was administered -- and four on the Nationwide Tour, was in Texas on Monday where he hoped to tee it up in the 72-hole qualifier which begins Wednesday at Deerwood Golf Club in McKinney.
Alex Miceli posts this very interesting timeline on Barron's career, with notes about how far back he has relied on beta-blockers.
Oct. 22, 2008 – Commissioner Tim Finchem denies appeal and instructs Barron to begin weaning himself off the drug.
2008 – Barron earns only $33,446 in 17 events on the Nationwide Tour.
Jan. 20 or 21*, 2009 – Tour denies the TUE for exogenous testosterone and instructs Barron to stop taking the drug. (* The Tour and Barron have different dates for the decision.)
Spring – Barron starts to take Lyrica as a substitute for Propranolol.
Early June – A doctor injects Barron with exogenous testosterone.
June 11 – Barron is drug-tested at the St. Jude Classic.
June 15 – Barron misses the cut at St. Jude.
2009 – Barron’s sample is found to contain Propranolol and testosterone.
July 23, Aug. 12 – Barron provides additional information to the Tour about his use of Propranolol and testosterone.
Oct. 20 – The Tour suspends Barron for one year (until Sept. 20, 2010) for violating the anti-doping ban on performance-enhancing drugs.
A cynic (which I certainly am not) might read that account and think the Commissioner didn't like Barron ignoring his recommendation to start weaning himself off of his prescribed drugs. Hard to imagine how Barron would not have faith in the Commissioner's medical expertise. Shocking, frankly.
There was much kvetching about the lack of Orlando Sentinel coverage for the Children's Miracle Network event at Disney World, but the real story was in PGATour.com's odd choice not to send someone to the final tour event of the year. Instead they posted AP game stories and a live blog, yet that wasn't enough when there are so many intriguing storylines like finalization of the top 125 and determination of tour cards for the following year. Inevitably great storylines develop and the web becomes a prime source for family, friends, acquaintances and former pro-am partners to see how their horses are doing.
It's also disconcerting to see such coverage when the event is played in the same state as tour headquarters and where the sponsor is propping up a long time event popular with players.
Thankfully, we got compelling accounts of the final day's play and money list scenarios from Steve Elling (here), Bob Harig (here) and Sean Martin (here).
I know, those three probably did the job better than PGATour.com would when their writers file in fear of little men with a red pen scribbling away edgier details. But with media consolidation the tour's own site often becomes a primary source of news. How can they be trusted when they aren't even giving an important event serious coverage? (Not to mention the decision not to post a story about Doug Barron's lawsuit).
Most of all, what does the lack of coverage say about the home office's view of the Fall Finish and the event at Disney?
GolfDigest.com's Matthew Rudy notes that Doug Barron's previous use of beta blockers may have behind his suspension. An as someone who has done quite a bit of reporting on the subjects, Rudy reminds us of several loopholes in drug testing
Say Barron really is the only one to fail a test in the 15 months the tour has been running its program. All that proves is that he didn't find one of the loopholes in the banned drug list. And if he's not the first person to fail, the Tour's drug testing program serves the exact, cynical purpose Yesalis said many sports leagues' programs do.
It's all for show.
The unthinkable has occurred: the PGA Tour went public with a performance-enhancing substance violation and suspension. No details beyond the length of suspension and the name of the player were released.
November 2, 2009
From the Office of the Commissioner:
The PGA TOUR announced today that Doug Barron has violated the PGA TOUR Anti-Doping Policy's ban on the use of performance-enhancing substances and has been suspended for one year. The suspension will commence immediately. This is the first suspension under the PGA TOUR Anti-Doping Program.
"I would like to apologize for any negative perception of the TOUR or its players resulting from my suspension. I want my fellow TOUR members and the fans to know that I did not intend to gain an unfair competitive advantage or enhance my performance while on TOUR," said Barron.
The TOUR will have no further comment on the suspension at this time.
So a year suspension for what he says was an unintentional attempt? Sounds like the tour did not agree.
I know the commissioner has been very transparent in saying that he resisted this program because--"We had to deal with that from a defensive standpoint from an image perspective"--but you'd to at least think they wouldn't make the first suspendee apologize for an image chink in the press release?
How about, I'm sorry I did this to my body, setting a terrible example for the youth of America.
Or maybe even no comment beyond a simple apology?
Either way, maybe Barron started using some physique building stuff after this odd photo of him ran on ESPN.com a few years ago.
Anyone know why he wasn't wearing his shirt? **Jason Sobel explained the incident here.
It was disappointing that the usually uber-hip SI/Golf.com Confidential failed to note that Justin Timberlake put on another stellar event, albeit one that will go largely unnoticed on the moribund fall schedule. This is not exactly a newsflash, but considering how the PGA Tour schedule is taking hits and the game's demographics are skewing gray, it's becoming obvious the tour needs to get the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open onto the West Coast Swing ASAP.
Timberlake hasn't been shy about his hopes for the event, and it seems the tour is noticing.
According to the PGA Tour's Rick George, as quoted in a story by Steve Carp, there is hope for moving out of the fall:
"I think the Shriners have done a great job of building and growing the tournament, and I know their desire to be part of the FedEx Cup," George said. "It can't happen in 2010, but there will be opportunities in 2011, and should a date become available and the time works, we would consider a change for Las Vegas."
The tour does seem to be bracing everyone for major changes in 2011 when several expired deals impact the schedule, but believe it or not, I continue to hear that there are folks in the world of golf who are uncomfortable with Timberlake, all because they can't get that earthshattering flash of nipple that they never actually saw during the 2004 Super Bowl.
Example 237,891 of golf taking itself way too seriously.
Timberlake is in the second year of a five-year deal he inked to host the golf tournament in Vegas, but the tour needs to figure out a way to keep him as enthusiastic as he once again was in presenting the event. What better way to do that than to make a 2011 spring date a top priority?
This year's event again included his charity concert with some of the hippest acts in music and coverage at places like MTV.com and People.com (which also featured a story on JT's mom doing hospitality duties for tour wives this week, obviously a campaign for sainthood).
No, I know that it's not Huey Lewis and Clay Walker breaking out in a duet to serenade Kevin James, but when a concert tied to a PGA Tour event is drawing Taylor Swift, Timbaland and Alicia Keyes, it can only do wonders for golf's cool factor. So would fully embracing Timberlake's energetic attempts to make the Las Vegas event a marquee event on the PGA Tour.
A tournament follow up story by Case Keefer makes it clear that attendance is the priority. I didn't watch any of the event, but I'm guessing with the leaderboard they had, crowds were tiny?
The PGA Tour issued this release from Rick George, Anthony Kim and Robert Allenby that risks further fanning the flames after Sunday's comments and inevitably will lead to more scrutiny of Kim's behavior. (However, this unbylined ESPN.com account quotes Fred Couples as saying Kim was "crushed" by the remarks and from Couples' perspective, Kim was on good behavior all week.) Anyway, the statement:
Statement from the PGA TOUR regarding Anthony Kim and Robert Allenby, post-Presidents Cup, including quotes from Kim and Allenby
October 14, 2009
“Robert Allenby and Anthony Kim were both part of a fantastic week at The Presidents Cup in San Francisco, representing the U.S. and International Teams, respectively, with utmost professionalism, competitive spirit and good sportsmanship. Concerning the reports published after the fact with unfortunate comments attributed to Robert regarding Anthony, we understand that both players have since spoken and have put the incident behind them. We wish them both the best as they play out the remainder of their 2009 schedules.” – PGA TOUR Executive Vice President & Chief of Operations Rick George
Was that as good for you all as it was for me?
“Robert and I have spoken about the comments he made after the final day of competition, and I’ve accepted his apology. We are both moving on, and I don’t have anything more to say about the issue. I had a great experience at my first Presidents Cup and look forward to competing in many more international team competitions for my country.” – Anthony Kim
“While I feel like the comments published were taken out of context, I did call Anthony to apologize for anything that I said or inferred that could possibly portray Anthony as anything less than a professional of the highest caliber. He was a key member of the U.S. Team last week and a formidable opponent on Sunday when we faced each other in singles competition. I am glad we had the chance to speak and clear the air.” – Robert Allenby
Oh I'm sure it was the highlight of your year.
Can you imagine how many of these clarification statements the PGA Tour would have to issue of they ran the Ryder Cup?
Here's how you know the American economy stinks...18 days? That's a lot of "customers" to talk to.
Courtesy of Doug Ferguson's weekly notes:
Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning
Copyright © 2022, Geoff Shackelford. All rights reserved.
