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The PGA Tour will begin testing players for performance-enhancing drugs next year. It’s a sad commentary on the world of modern sports when even the most honest group of athletes have to pee in a bottle to prove their integrity.
Some top players have questioned the need to start testing. They’ve never seen guys juicing up in the locker room and point out that golfers are so ethical that they often call penalties and even disqualifications on themselves for the slightest of rule breaches (even when no one else witnesses them).
What they say is true. Golf is a game of the highest honour and examples of cheating of any kind are incredibly rare. Let’s hope golf is always so pure.
But there are two main reasons why testing is warranted.
1. Drugs definitely can enhance performance. Players have said there’s no benefit to bulking up like a WWE wrestler. True. But Matthew Rudy’s excellent article in the October issue of Golf Digest points out that a small amount of andro, for example, can create more lean muscle mass and make a big difference in explosive power. This translates into longer shots, particularly off the tee. The article quotes golf, fitness and scientific experts who all clearly indicate that drugs would help a player practise harder and give him an advantage on the course in at least one of golf’s key areas – length. It’s a compelling article, one I think answers the debate on whether steroids, andro and other drugs could actually enhance performance.
2. Human nature. Nobody has been talking about this but it's just human nature that some players will be tempted and some will (or perhaps already have) give in, especially considering the huge pots of prize money now available in pro golf. Let’s not be naïve. The number of cheaters might be less than in other sports where power is more imperative and ethics are more easily ignored; it might even be close to zero. But a few will take the chance. Maybe not at the PGA Tour level, but it’s conceivable a college kid struggling to stay on a team or a journeyman trying to stay on tour might become desperate and seek an edge. Isn’t it? It's happened in every other sport. Golf will not, sadly, remain immune forever.
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