Grudgingly, golf takes the cup
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By Craig DeVrieze | Saturday, July 12, 2008 |
SILVIS, Ill. — The guy who good-naturedly answers to the nickname Lumpy was asked if he would find humor in a suggestion that he is the reason PGA Tour testing for performance-enhancing substances and all manner of drugs turned a week old Tuesday.
“Nah,” said Tim Herron, who never will be confused for ripped. “Because it is pretty expensive what they’re doing.”
In an organization composed of independent contractors who will float the expense, the prospect of being forced to drop one’s pants and relieve oneself in front of an official observer is not a comfortable situation, cost be darned.
But it is something an undetermined number of John Deere Classic participants will do in a secreted corner of the TPC Deere Run clubhouse this week, and at subsequent PGA Tour stops for weeks and years to come.
Some even will answer a knock on the door of their swanky homes and be handed a cup for purposes of proving their innocence, yet another unpopular tenet of a program precious few PGA Tourists believe will uncover cheating in a game whose very essence is personal integrity and self-policing.
Joe Ogilvie, a Tour veteran who sits on the policy board that OK’d the new program, said a momentary loss of dignity and a monetary Tour hit of roughly $2 million per annum simply are the costs of doing business on the modern sports landscape.
The PGA Tour is one of the last sporting entities to join the drug-testing parade, but Ogilvie and his comrades concede it is an unavoidable reality.
“Other major league sports made it something we had to do,” Ogilvie said Tuesday. “Every sport cheats except golf. We just have to do it. It’s different from what golf’s all about, but it’s just the modern age, and we had to do it because Congress was going to do it for us if we didn’t. That’s where it was heading.”
And so it is. From Rafael Palmiero to Shawn Merriman, from Marion Jones to Martina Hingis, the cup quite literally has been passed to Tiger Woods and his brethren, a prospect Bob Tway certainly didn’t envision when he teed it up as a rookie in 1985.
“I still think it doesn’t make sense,” the 49-year-old Oklahoman said. “I think you just kind of do it so I guess people know no one’s doing it.”
That is the fervent hope. That every player selected for testing via a thoroughly random process successfully proves his innocence.
The fear is that a plethora of banned substances, some not even included in the World Anti-Doping Adminstration’s list of illicit items, won’t step and bite an innocent and unsuspecting player.
Certain over-the-counter cough medicines and protein drinks contain banned items covered in a 40-page manual distributed in January to every PGA employee – including commissioner Tim Finchem, who last week submitted to the first Tour test.
“Hopefully, we don’t have a hot test for a cold medicine,” said 47-year-old Tour vet Kenny Perry. “That energy drink can get you in trouble.
“I quit taking everything,” he said. “I haven’t taken anything for two months now. Maybe an Advil. That’s about it. I was on protein shakes and everything. I’d lost a lot of weight. I was in good shape. Now, I’ve gained a bunch of weight back, and I don’t feel nearly as good. But it might be my turn to be tested here soon, so I’ve got to be ready.”
Ready or not, the Tour will broker no excuses.
Ty Votaw, the Tour’s executive vice president of communications and internal affairs, said players have been thoroughly briefed on the program via something he termed “the most comprehensive educational process we have done with our players on any issue.”
Players who test positive face a ban of up to a year for a first violation, up to five for a second, and up to a lifetime for multiple violations. Heavy fines also could be incurred.
JDC opinions differed Tuesday on the potential for uncovering violators, even to the point of contradicting themselves.
On one hand, veteran Woody Austin said golfers don’t stand to benefit from bulking up like other ballplayers. On the other hand, he conceded, “I’m sure there is some suspicion because the game has changed that way. The game’s about power now.”
The money also is as large as a Tiger-esque tee ball, so the temptation to seek an advantage certainly exists.
Herron said perhaps a couple of players already are guilty but he also doubts that the game will be well-served by ferreting such players out.
“Big deal,” he said. “That’s all I can say. If that’s all, it’s not a big deal. I don’t think it’s going to help at all.”
Like it or don’t, the time has arrived.
Pass the cup.
Craig DeVrieze can be contacted at (563) 333-2610 or cdevrieze@qctimes.com. Comment on this story at qctimes.com.
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