Doug Barron has been suspended for a full year after failing a drug test, becoming the first PGA Tour player to fail such a test since the tour instituted their drug policy in July 2008.Barron may not fit the mold of the normal athlete to fail drug testing, but in golf, he seems like the perfect culprit. The 40-year-old Barron has been a professional golfer since 1992, playing in 238 career PGA Tour tournaments and 110 career Nationwide Tour events.
On Monday, Barron issued an apology in a statement through the tour.
"I would like to apologize for any negative perception of the tour or its players resulting from my suspension," Barron said in the statement. "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."
The tour announced the suspension but, per its drug policy, would not disclose what substance Barron used. Barron's statement also made no mention of a specific drug.
The reason Barron is such an interesting case is because he's that golfer not trying to go from good to great, but from mediocre, by tour standards, to good.
"I'm surprised to hear that," British Open champion Stewart Cink said after hearing of the positive test. "I know him a little bit. He's taken medicine in the past for a lot of different reasons. I would think that has a lot to do with it."
Sure, Tiger Woods and Sergio Garcia have the natural talent to play good golf, but someone like Barron, who has made just $2.7 million on the PGA Tour in his career -- petty cash for what the pros make -- could probably use any advantage he could muster to be able to compete with today's golfer.
Barron averaged 277 yards off the tee this past season on the Nationwide Tour, 11 yards below the average on the PGA Tour, and a number that would have had him in the 170s in rankings this season. Standing only 5-foot-9, Barron could stand to use any and all advantages with distance.
Barron has never won a tournament on either the PGA or Nationwide Tours.
Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Exactly what drugs would one take to improve at GOLF? Distance is only as good as accuracy. And putting? Kind of like performance enhanced CURLING, ya?
u cant tell me tigers not on the sauce.best friends with A-ROID,come on
diplobrat, you nailed it. You can take any and all the drugs in the world and they won't take one stroke off your game.
A far as distance goes, the longer hitters have less room for error than shorter hitters. The kind of skill that it takes to play great golf doesn't come in a bottle.
I AM GONNA NEED SOME OF WHAT HE HAD FOR THIS WEEKEND...I AM TAKIN MY KID TO BILLS WACKY WORLD AND MINI GOLF....NEED THE EDGE...MY KID IS GETTIN GOOD...
"Short people ain't got no reason to live." Lets have an abuse league and let these smaller guys have an edge. Ot course 2+ Mil ain't chump change.
What a jerk you are, the main thing short
on you is your IQ. I'll bet you were a
closet athlete, never did nothing and
never will.
**STONER**
haha funny ;)
ROBERT Tell me you are joking Please tell me your joking.Only sport that had meaning to kids and adults.CLASS !!!First of all a High percentage of golfers are complte drunks and gambling messes.PGA Tour winner Dustin Johnson has been arrested on a charges of driving under the influence.Now johnson could of killed someone hope you reccommended he be be suspended indefinatly from golf.
The guy got popped on a drug test 6 month suspension at the most.Guess you don`t hang around many golfers class just because you drive a nice car and play golf doesn`t give you class!People like you just wanna prosecute your such a douchebag!
I would guess that he was taking Beta-blockers. Calms the nerves.
If you think 5'9" is short your on drugs. This golfer whom I or you have ever heard from won't put a dent golfs future. Clint, are you the biggest moron around or what. Name five player that are drunks and gampling addicts.
HMMM...From various websites (Golfweek, etc.) didn't take much Googling.
Johnson sullies PGA's rep with drunk-driving charge
Thu, 02 Apr 2009 08:09:36 GMT - China Daily Hong Kong News
MYRTLE BEACH, South Carolina: US PGA Tour winner and rising star Dustin Johnson was arrested on Monday and charged with driving under the influence in South Carolina, police said.
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Notah Begay: A bump in the road - 2nd drunk driving conviction - Brief Article
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Ogilvie Charged with DWI Prior to Wachovia
By Associated Press
Posted: May 5, 2006
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Joe Ogilvie was charged with driving while impaired after a traffic stop before this week's Wachovia Championship.
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Craig Stadler pleads guilty to drunk driving charge.
Craig Stadler pleaded guilty to operating a vehicle while impaired after he was arrested for drunken driving, and withdrew from the Farmers Charity Classic.
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Drunk John Daly spends a night in jail
Two-time major golf champion John Daly spent a night in jail at the weekend after police here found him drunk outside a restaurant, the Winston-Salem Journal reported on Wednesday.
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Rags to riches tale for Rich Beem
In the rich man, poor man life of the 84th USPGA champion, the joy Rich Beem felt at defeating Tiger Woods at Hazeltine to lift his first major championship on Sunday was tempered by the memory of how his only visit to the Open championship in Scotland was tarnished by a drink driving offence in 1999.
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Ken Venturi arrested for drink driving
Ken Venturi faces a drunken driving charge after police said the golf star nearly hit a patrol car…He was taken to the Collier County Jail and released after posting bail of $750…A breath test taken twice recorded his blood-alcohol level at 0.191 percent and 0.195 percent, authorities said. Under Florida law, a driver is presumed drunk when the level exceeds 0.08.
I understand Tiger Gamps!
joeafabitz------guess you never had a few beers or drove after a few beers, you are full of crap
@hookmrl
Chuckle...nursing a hangover are we?
Actually I don't drink; life's fun enough without it - and I can remember what I did!
Love your logic though. Everyone's driving drunk so it's acceptable.
How many DWI's is OK? To put it a different way, do you really think it's good to have people like Daly (where to begin...), Begay (2 DWI convictions) and Venturi (0.195 - twice the legal limit) out on the roads?
Isn't that why they have to walk the course???
THANKS JOE WAS PLAYING GOLF DIDN`T GET A CHANCE TO RESPOND !!VIC!VIC VIC!YOU LIVE IN A FANTASY LAND POOR YOU IF YOUR DEFENDING GOLF GOOD FOR YOU BUT THE REAL WORLD IS THE REAL WORLD.EVERYONE IS HUMAN I`M NOT TOTALLY WRECKING GOLF BUT IF YOU DON`T SEE IT THEN YOUR JUST BLIND!ROBERT SAID GOLF IS THE ONLY SPORT THAT HAS MEANING TO KIDS AND ADULTS !!HAHAHA ARE YOU KIDDING ME MAYBE IN HIS YUPPY WORLD BUT FOOTBALL,BASEBALL,ECT....HAVE GONE NO WHERE AND ARE STILL #1 !!YOU MORON DO SOME RESEARCH HANGOUT WITH SOME EXECUTIVES THAT PLAY GOLF HAHAHAHA!PRO`S ARE NO DIFFRENT YOU JOKE!
Doctors dish out Valium willy nilly to each and everyone who fronts their clinics on a daily basis and don`t get prosecuted... so what`s the problem here with this mediocore, almost-nameless golfer? Americans love drugs of any kind, ipso facto. There`s no need to crucify this guy just to show the masses that the officials are doing their job, so to speak.
Looks like he has a paunch...maybe the reason he's just mediocre is he doesn't want to put effort into anything?! If he just worked out he'd be in better shape. Geez....it'd be like someone obese getting liposuction....not going to help!
And you are illiterate.