Bambi vs Golfzilla: Drugs in Golf
BY Grant Dodd | 18 Jul 2007
The only thing more predictable than an Australian athlete denying the veracity of a positive drug test is the ferocity with which the Australian public will defend his or her honour. As a rule, the only variables are the degree of indignation and the relative celebrity of the community leader or politician that will come out in support of the slighted athlete. Cheating with drugs is a pastime reserved for sportsmen from other countries. We’re often assured of that because, “it’s just not the Australian way”.
That same blanket denial process appears to apply to supporters and defenders of the game of golf. It is suggested that the “true values” of golf wouldn’t allow for such internecine forces to sully the noble game. As a consequence, there are no drugs in golf, and therefore no need to test for them. We know that because it is an inalienable truth: it just wouldn’t happen in golf.
However, despite a weight of evidence that would sink the Queen Mary, there are still some people labouring under the impression that the perambulating laboratory otherwise known as the Tour de France is a clean and fair contest. Those same people would probably choose to ignore the mountain of evidence collated from the BALCO scandal in California which suggests that scores of athletes involved in both professional and amateur sport in the USA are heavily implicated in the use of performance enhancing drugs.
In reality, a majority of people would rather not hear about such unpalatable truths. We build up sporting heroes as paragons of virtue and aspiration, often despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. For many, it is easier to turn a blind eye to outrageous and duplicitous conduct than it is to tear down an ivory tower constructed to idolatry.
Drugs are an unfortunate companion of professional sport, whether some choose to recognise it or not. One thing that has been learned beyond doubt is that anywhere great wealth can be gained from great endeavour on the sporting field we will also find the motivation to succeed at any cost.
Why then, would golf, one of the richest sports on the planet, be exempted from having competitors who turn to drugs to gain advantage? If you are so inclined, there is certainly no deterrent at the moment against doing so. Need a few extra yards to try to cope with the trend towards longer courses? Can’t carry those fairway traps on the par 5’s? Feeling a bit jerky on the four footers? Well, in the brave new world of custom made pharmaceuticals, there is something for everyone.
Of course, the golfing world raised an eyebrow when Tiger Woods, upon being asked about the possibility of the introduction of drug testing in golf, answered,
“I don’t know when we could get that implemented – tomorrow would be fine with me”.
The implications of Wood’s words (and he did clearly reiterate that he knew of no evidence of anyone using drugs in golf) are that the world No.1 has his own suspicions. Perhaps not of any individual per se, but of the fact that the enticement to cross that line is perhaps enough to have already seduced a few.
The chief governing bodies of world golf have, until last month, been resistant to the introduction of random drug testing. Tim Finchem, commissioner of the all powerful USPGA TOUR, stated in August 2006 that,
“At this point, we are not convinced that we need to do something.”
Ten months later, the message has changed,
“It is unfortunate that these realities are with us, but they are”, said Finchem. “And we have to deal with them, and I think it’s important that golf deal with them collectively.”
Of course, golf is arguably one sport where drugs may possibly only play a minimal role in performance enhancement. Nonetheless, given the very fine line that separates superstardom from mediocrity at present, even the smallest artificially constructed advantage is a concern. Put simply, the institution of a drug testing program is needed to protect those playing fair and to deter others from taking liberties with this one lax area of rule policing in golf.
The game has nothing to lose by doing so. If it is as clean as Tim Finchem has previously suggested, then drug testing will only reinforce and enhance golf’s impeccable reputation as the last great bastion of fairness in professional sport. If testing does unearth some snakes in the woodpile, then so be it. The game owes it to the overwhelming majority of competitors who play the game in the right spirit to be squeaky clean.
Whilst a clear and definitive resolution still awaits, the last word on the issue of drugs in golf might well rest with Dr Charles Yesalis, a steroids expert and emeritus professor at Penn State University, U.S.A.
“You hear this in swimming; all other sports have cheaters but ours doesn’t. It’s the argument of an 8 year old,” said Dr Yesalis.
“It’s not going to turn a mediocre golfer into a great golfer. But if you take Bambi and Godzilla, who’s going to hit the ball further? If you take someone who has his card and add muscle to him, he’ll do better.”
