Ryder Cup Drug Testing Possible, No Word Yet On Whether Captain's Will Be Tested Too

Steve Elling notes the confirmation from George "Big Mouth" O'Grady, not from the PGA of America. 

The Ryder Cup is the PGA of America's other signature event. A total of 24 players, featuring many of the top stars from around the globe, make up the two Ryder Cup teams.

"There's facilities in place for drug testing to take part," O'Grady said. "The PGA of America announced last week that they would be the first major to have drug testing; that they would be welcoming the PGA Tour's system and it will be in place for The Ryder Cup. Whether we choose to use it or not hasn't been decided yet. But the drug testing unit will be on site."

Meanwhile Ron Sirak notes that the LPGA is reportedly going to try again this week after their messy trial run earlier this year.

R&A Delays Open Championship Drug Testing

Lawrence Donegan reports on the latest example of procrastination, joining grooves, the ball, etc. In this instance, they are blaming the Asian and South African Tours. The difference here is that this is something Peter Dawson has been adamant about, which may give us some insight into why they are dragging their feet on issues they aren't so passionate about (grooves, the ball, etc.).

"It would probably be a limited-field event, like a WGC or something like that"

Steve Elling shares a prime example of why when European Tour Commish George O'Grady enters a room, scribblers sprint knowing he'll say something stupid newsworthy.

The European Tour hosted a banquet during Masters week and a couple of scribes corralled Commissioner George O'Grady early to ask a couple of questions about the drug testing rollout planned for this summer. As he has said in the past, the Euro plan won't be nearly as comprehensive as the PGA Tour program, which will cost over $1 million to administer.

"We simply don't have as much money," he said.

O'Grady said, in broad brush strokes, that he hopes to perhaps test the winners and a few more players in the field each week, and hopes to have tested every fulltime player at some point by the end of the year. Then he dropped a little bombshell of sorts. O'Grady said that PGA Tour counterpart Tim Finchem intends to test an entire field at some point, which could be prohibitively expensive, it was pointed out.

"It would probably be a limited-field event, like a WGC or something like that," he said.

So much for randomly testing and keeping the process pure!

"It's not who golfers are."

Paul Azinger is interviewed by Conor Doughtery in Monday's WSJ, and most of the answers say something like "it depends on the makeup of the team."

WSJ: Any thoughts on how the course will be set up?

MR. AZINGER: It's another one of those things that's going to really depend on the makeup of that team. I don't want to say I'm not going to have any rough out there and then Nick Faldo picks his two biggest hitters because he thinks it gives him an advantage. I don't want him to know anything. I'll just do what I can based on the makeup of the team.

See. Here's one interesting comment, though I don't buy the usual stuff about golfers being honorable, therefore they would never cheat on the drug test:

WSJ: What are your feelings on drug testing in golf?

MR. AZINGER: It's time for the tour to be drug-tested. What I'm opposed to is that we're supposed to drop our pants to our ankles and pull our shirts to our chests to prove we don't have someone's urine strapped to our side. It just seems a little silly to me to that you can't just say, "You're going to be drug-tested today, go in that bathroom, pee in a glass and just leave it there." [Instead, they are saying], "Go in that bathroom, I'm coming in there with you, and you have to drop your pants, lift up your shirt." It's not who golfers are.

I don't think there was any consideration on the [PGA Tour's prohibited substances list] of performance-enhancing drugs [for] what's performance-enhancing in golf. Stimulants are on this list. I mean, guys don't take a handful of stimulants before they tee off at the Ryder Cup. That's the last thing they need.

"I'm on drugs"

In the latest Men's Vogue, John Cassidy writes about playing a round of golf at Bethpage on the drug propranolol, a soon-to-be-banned beta blocker.

Were the beta blockers responsible for my improved shot selection and my dramatic mid-round recovery? Was it a placebo effect? Dumb luck? I have no idea. But the next time my regular four-ball partners start kicking my tail in our weekly three-dollar Nassau, I'm going to try and get hold of some more propranolol. Sure, it might be medically irresponsible and morally questionable, but the ban on beta blockers applies only to the PGA Tour, and I need all the help I can get.

"The Tour, however, has set a normal level at 250."

Rex Hoggard offers an intriguing behind-the-scenes look at Shaun Micheel's issues with drug testing and changes he is making to accomodate the tour's mandated "normal" testosterone level.

When Micheel was originally diagnosed, his testosterone levels were 279. A recent test recorded his testosterone levels at 537, which his doctor, Tour-approved endocrinologist Dr. Adrian Dobs, said was perfect.

According to Dobs, normal testosterone levels range from 300 to 800. The Tour, however, has set a normal level at 250.

“If people are sick, they deserve to get the medications they need,” said Richard Young, the Colorado-based lawyer who helped create the Tour’s anti-doping program. “You don’t get in the door unless you need something. But if a doctor says this is good for you, you don’t necessarily get a (therapeutic-use exemption).”

The first drug testing isn’t scheduled until early July. But make no mistake, the policy’s first exam is already under way.

Player Wives Not The Only Ones Who May Turn To Botox

Thanks to reader James for Bloomberg's Michael Buteau report on the exciting news that the yips may have a medical cure: Botox.

Well, news might be a stretch. Let's rephrase that: interesting information gleaned from a drug company study. The same drug company that wants to sell their stuff:

The study is the first to include analysis of brainwaves and muscle activity in hands and wrists, Adler said. Researchers monitored 50 golfers, 25 of them yippers and 25 non-yippers.

It was financed by a $193,000 grant from Allergan Inc., of Irvine, California. Botox is Allergan's biggest product, with $1.2 billion in sales last year. The drug is best known for reducing skin wrinkles and also is used to treat muscle cramping in musicians and Parkinson's disease.

The yips, commonly described as an involuntary movement, or jerking, of the putter before striking a golf ball, have long been thought to be caused by anxiety or stress.

``Your brain is sending you a message and your body just kind of backfires,'' said Louise Simpson, 50, of Tempe, Arizona, who took part in the study.

And now the body will send a message that because you don't have those forehead wrinkles anymore, you can make this three footer? Oh, sorry...

If the study shows yips are primarily caused by muscle cramping, Adler said the condition could be treated with small injections of Botox. The drug isn't considered performance- enhancing and isn't banned under golf's new subtance policy, said U.S. PGA Tour Executive Vice President Ty Votaw.

That'll change!

Meanwhile, noted yipper Doug Sanders isn't so sure...

Sanders, 75, who missed the British Open putt, says he knows one proven cure: ``It's called vodka tonic.'' Alternatively, he says, ``Sometimes if you have three or four beers, it really helps a lot.''

Alcohol can be a short-lived treatment, Adler says. Yips sufferers can become tolerant of the drink and will eventually need more to get the same effect. Over time, the movement disorder often gets worse, he said.

The movement disorder. Now there's a euphemism for yips!

"Not a [bleeping] chance"

Bob Verdi's FBR Open Golf World game story features a couple of intriguing items. The first relates to the new cut rule:

The world's No. 2 golfer is precisely the type of marquee name who would be welcomed by a smattering of peers disgruntled about working conditions: specifically the new cut rule and the drug policy to be instituted July 1. But whether Mickelson would expend any energy on any form of a movement by labor against the tour's authority or administration is unclear. In fact, when Mickelson was asked to touch on reported grumbling among peers, he indicated he did not have sufficient information on the subject.

If one were to estimate the number of golfers sufficiently vexed to ponder action via an association, the hunch would be more than a few but fewer than enough. "About 30," said one player. But 30 guys banging their fists doesn't make for much noise, especially if the stars aren't aligned, and the proletariat isn't receiving much encouragment from the penthouse. In San Diego, for instance, Tiger Woods was asked about unrest over the controversial new cut policy (known as "Rule 78"). "Play better," he said. That doesn't provide much ammunition for the agents of change.

This is even more fascinating related to drug testing: 

But it also doesn't mean Woods would feel any different than a lot of players about a scenario whereby they would have to provide urine samples with an inspector in the same room. "Not a [bleeping] chance," promised Vijay Singh.

Am I reading that right? Vijay Singh is not too excited about playing by the rules? Now, I thought golfers would never use stuff because they were honorable, upstanding, rule-abiding, eh...

Concluded Tim Herron, "We need an association." He added, however, that the means toward that end requires a certain consensus among independent contractors with differing agendas. Meanwhile, at least one tour player has contacted a legal eagle about representing a group of the disenchanted. Ten years ago, there was an effort to organize a Tour Players Association, but it enjoyed a very short shelf life. Whatever happens, David Toms, one of four player directors on the PGA Tour Policy Board, supposes the next meeting will be "lively."

Wow, these guys really don't want to be tested.  

So much for the Tour's spin that the media will focus on the one positive test and ignore the fact that the rest are all clean.

If they resist testing, the media will be the least of the PGA Tour's concerns.

Drug Policy Meetings Flash: Players Realize They Better Give Up The Reefer And Vick's Vapor Inhalers

Doug Ferguson reports on last week's player meetings on the new drug policy:

"I was caught off guard," Jim Furyk said. "I thought everyone was pro-testing. What I drew out of the meeting was that a few guys aren't. Not a few. Let's say more guys had negative opinions."

Lickliter doesn't understand why the tour adopted WADA guidelines for golf, noting that Vick's Vapor Inhaler is prohibited.

"If I use Vick's nasal spray three times, they can kick me off the tour forever," Lickliter said. "Now, do you think Vick's nasal spray is helping me compete out here? Half the stuff they're testing for doesn't help golfers. These so-called experts are not experts in golf."

Furyk told of a player who confided having a disorder that required drug treatment. Requesting a TUE for the drug means letting his secret out.

Sheesh...it's not like they'll be posting these "TUE's" in the locker room, right?

Tim Herron wonders if Danny Edwards' failed attempt to start a players' union 10 years ago was ahead of its time.

Love how you just slipped that in, Doug!

For many, it was the thought of a positive test for something not intended to help them lower their score, even if no one has been able to identify a drug that will do that.

"I don't think anyone on tour is in the business of trying to find something to enhance performance," Jeff Maggert said.

Oh dear lord. Obviously he hasn't bought a Medicus.

"Maybe there is, and I'm naive. There's a bigger chance of someone getting tested positive who has absolutely no intent of trying to break the rules. The downside outweighs the upside by 1,000-to-1. The downside is just terrible."

Yaaaawwwwwnnn...

For the millionth time guys, you can't have it both ways. You can't tell us you're better athletes and working out to hit it longer and then claim performance enhancing drugs are out of the question. Okay, I'll stop bringing that up...this week. 

"We would like to perhaps accelerate the rotation somewhat."

I sat through my first Tim Finchem press conference today. I know, I know...the perks of a media credential. The man has a svengali-like ability to lull you into a hypnotic trance where you ponder what's lurking on the lunch menu.

He did his usual bit about cheating countering the "culture" of the game, and therefore the Tour has no reason anyone will test positive, which is your basic credibility killer.

There were a few highlights, one being the new acronym that you are sure to get sick of reading about: T.U.E. (therapeutic use exemption).

Oddly, this answer to Steve Elling about the Westchester situation did not cause the room to break out in laughter.

On the second one, let me answer the second one first, Westchester. It's been widely reported -- we are in discussions with Westchester. We have a multi-year contract with Westchester. Our discussions focus on the possibility to alter the rotation arrangement that we entered into for this six years in some fashion.

As you know, we had agreed to play -- worked out an agreement where we'd play at least three times in six years. We would like to perhaps accelerate the rotation somewhat.

Is that Finchemspeak for we want to get out of Westchester immediately?

But we are in discussion with Westchester on a wide range of options within that, and I don't want to get into speculating on any one course, but we are deep into discussions. We hope to wrap this up quickly, and hopefully we'll have more to say within the next week or so. But obviously if it impacts '08 we really need to know right away. That's where we are. Not much more to say about that.

There was a nice non-answer on groove issue that wasn't worth copying and pasting.

Then, near the end, Doug Ferguson pressed Finchem on two key points related to drug testing that seem to expose potential flaws in the system:

If, however, we concluded that it's being taken because it is being abused, either because of a lack of judgment, dependency or addiction, we would treat it in that context, which would include a wide range of potential actions, including some disciplinary action, some therapeutic action, and some continuing testing action. So it could conceivably be that a player is disciplined at some level and then if he's allowed to continue to play he's tested on a regular basis to help him deal with those issues.

We view that as somewhat different than a player who has intentionally taken a substance to gain competitive advantage. That would be dealt with in a different arena.

Q. Who decides that, you?

COMMISSIONER TIM FINCHEM: That would be me, and subject to an appeal process. 

 Seems like loads of potential for serious questions, particularly in light of this...

 Q. And lastly, just to clarify, if there is a positive test, what will you be releasing to the media? I'm a little confused on that. After it runs the appeals process.

COMMISSIONER TIM FINCHEM: At this moment it's our intention when the process is completed, we would release to the media the fact that there was a violation and what the sanction for the violation is.

Q. But not the drug?

COMMISSIONER TIM FINCHEM: Not the drug.

Over/under anyone on how long that policy is considered disfunctional? 

"That depends on [the media]."

I warned of this last month and you can already see it playing out: the cynical, secular, communist, pornography-addicted press will be the real guilty party in any positive drug tests in golf. From Ron Sirak's Golf World story on the subject:

"That depends on [the media]," LPGA counsel Jill Pilgrim says, when discussing the public-relations risks. "If we have a 1 percent failure rate, [is the media] going to report that 1 percent or on the 99 percent who are clean?"

Update on 2008-01-09 03:09 by Geoff

Meanwhile Doug Ferguson reports this related to the permissible drug list in his weekly notes column:

DRUG LIST: Toward the end of the PGA Tour's anti-doping program manual distributed to players last month is a section that lists examples of medications that are permitted, such as antibiotics, hemorrhoidals and muscle relaxants.

It was surprising to see vaginal preparations as the final entry.

Turns out it was a reminder that the PGA Tour is not a men's tour. Annika Sorenstam played in the Colonial in 2003, Suzy Whaley played in Hartford late that year, and Michelle Wie has played every year since then.

"In the era of females wanting to perhaps play on the PGA Tour, our policy had to reflect that such products were permissible," tour spokesman Ty Votaw said. 

"Golfers, in my view, are essentially addicts."

The Independent's Dermot Gileece talked to Dr. Conor O'Brien, "a five-handicap member of Portmarnock GC and an acknowledged expert" on steroids, eliciting these interesting comments:

"I have to say that looking at certain, current golfers, I'm left with a doubt regarding possible drug abuse, based purely on their physical shape. Just as I would have doubts about certain athletes."

He continued: "There are exceptional individuals in golf such as Tiger Woods and John Daly who have a God-given ability to generate remarkable clubhead speed. Give them a banjo and they'd still be able to hit the ball further than most of us.

"But the fundamentals in golf have changed and we must acknowledge that tournament players are now golfing athletes. Which means you're going to try and ensure that the other guy doesn't have an edge. And while drugs will not make an average golfer great, getting your muscle-function improved by a tiny amount could make a significant difference to a player's scoring average.

"Golfers, in my view, are essentially addicts. The game is like a disease. And if a club player is prepared to mortgage his house for the newest magical driver, consider the temptations for a professional, with the huge sums of money at stake in tournaments these days."

So, what changes did he expect to see from the introduction of drug-testing?

"Where world records have become very thin on the ground in other sports after the introduction of testing, I think driving distances in golf may change," he replied. "Either way, I'm delighted golf has bitten the bullet. It shows a huge maturity in the sport and will protect it from losing credibility at the highest level. Which is what we all want."

"You still have adrenaline flowing in your body, but you don't feel that adrenaline rush so you're not distracted by your own nervousness"

Karen Kaplan and Denise Gellene of Los Angeles Times consider the use and benefits of cognitive enhancers like Adderall and Provigil for those in high stress positions. Of course, golfers call penalties on themselves and Nick Price tried beta blockers during the Reagan administration years and found them to be useless, so why I'm even linking this is a mystery...

Philips, the poker player, started using Adderall after he was diagnosed with ADHD five years ago and later got a prescription for Provigil to further improve his focus. ADHD drugs work by increasing the level of the brain chemical dopamine, which is thought to improve attention. Provigil's mechanism of action is not well understood, but boosting the effect of dopamine is thought to be part of it.

The drugs improved his concentration during high-stakes tournaments, he said, allowing him to better track all the action at his table.

"Poker is the sort of game that a lot of people can play well sporadically, but tournaments are mostly won by people who can play close to their best at all times," he said. "It requires significant mental effort to play in top form for 12 hours a day, five days in a row."

In the world of classical music, beta blockers such as Inderal have become nearly as commonplace as metronomes.

The drugs block adrenaline receptors in the heart and blood vessels, helping to control arrhythmias and high blood pressure. They also block adrenaline receptors in the brain.

"You still have adrenaline flowing in your body, but you don't feel that adrenaline rush so you're not distracted by your own nervousness," said Dr. Bernd F. Remler, a neurologist at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee.

That's why Sarah Tuck, a veteran flutist with the San Diego Symphony, takes them to stave off the jitters that musicians refer to as "rubber fingers."

"When your heart is racing and your hands are shaking and you have difficulty breathing, it is difficult to perform," said Tuck, 41, who discovered them when she began performing professionally 15 years ago.

A survey she conducted a decade ago revealed one-quarter of flutists used the pills before some or all of their performances or in high-pressure situations like auditions. She believes use is now more widespread and estimates that three-quarters of musicians she knows use the drugs at least occasionally.

Prescriptions for Inderal and other beta blockers can be readily obtained from physicians. Tuck said some doctors had told her they used the drugs themselves to calm their own nerves before making presentations at medical meetings. Musicians say their drug use is all aboveboard.

"It's not like we're sending our clubhouse attendants to BALCO to get us our Inderal," said double bassist Bruce Ridge, 44, referring to the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative that allegedly provided slugger Barry Bonds and other athletes with performance-enhancing drugs.

That's right, because it is made by a publicly traded company, it must be A-okay!

"Golf is unprepared for its first big scandal, and maybe it will never come."

Michael Bamberger wonders what golf would do if a drug scandal comes along and whether fans would really care.

Donald Trump, the budding golf impresario who would own a baseball team in a New York minute if he thought he could make money at it, said a while back, "Do you care if these ballplayers are using steroids? I do not. I just want to see them hit home runs." Trump has a knack for saying what others are thinking, which may explain why baseball set attendance records in 2007, steroid scandal and all.

For golf fans, the question is really the same. It's the answer that makes all the difference. When a professional golfer clocks a drive 360 yards and straight, it's an awesome sight, right? But would you find it less awesome if you suspected the golfer was juiced?

The equipment has been juiced and most just want to know where they can buy the same fix. However, attendance in golf most certainly isn't setting records. Either way, the authorities have known the equipment was juiced and chose to do nothing, therefore the cost, pain and degrading nature of drug testing is the result. No need to sympathize.

On another note, the PGA Tour is already suggesting privately that writers will declare the testing insufficient or not-credible after no one tests positive.

It's a clever bit of spin, perhaps even dreamed up by the Powell-Tate folks, designed to make scribblers feel guilty when they sit down to write a column wondering why no one flunked the testing.  I'm of the school that the mere introduction of testing will serve the most important purpose: stopping kids from trying something that could do serious harms to their bodies.

I also believe that drug testing in golf will go the same way driver testing went: right off everyone's radar screen.

Thoughts? 

"What you're trying to prevent is the kids look up to athletes, and you don't want to have kids going down the wrong path at an early age and knowing that they can get away with it."

Sherwood was abuzz today...with talk of the Mitchell Report. This meant all of us got to listen to Art Spander do a live radio interview (actually, Art talked loud enough that he really didn't need to phone this one in).

When Tiger Woods came in the cart barn after his opening 69, he was asked by Doug Ferguson about the possibility of such a report in golf had the new drug testing program not been started, and Tiger said what I've been ranting and raving about forever and which no one in a position of power has said, which is odd considering their devotion to family values.

Q. If the TOUR doesn't have this testing now, do you think there eventually could have been a Mitchell report for golf?

TIGER WOODS: I think it could happen. What you're trying to prevent is the kids look up to athletes, and you don't want to have kids going down the wrong path at an early age and knowing that they can get away with it.