Drug testing will only show what we already know

Tag : Teflon Brush

What seems to have been overlooked as the Tour inched closer to adrug testing policy, primarily for the sake of landing golf in theOlympics or appeasing naysayers who still will have doubts is that there are no performance-enhancing drugs in golf.
Not because players wouldn't be interested in longer andstraighter, but because those qualities don't come in a needle.
"People assume every sport is the same and that steroids will makeyou better. But it's not the same," said Greg Rose, a co-founder ofthe Titleist Performance Institute, the sport's leading center forgolf fitness.
"There are so many components to golf. This isn't the long-driveTour where all that matters is how far you hit it. The short gameis more important, and things like steroids can affect yourflexibility, your attitude and your personality. Bad things. Youwant things to slow you down."
There are a litany of penalties for a positive test, a lifetime banbeing the ultimate price for a called third strike, but if a playerdoes test dirty after more than 12 months of training, Q&As andmedia hype we would suggest a lobotomy for that wayward soul.
"I'd be shocked (if someone were to test positive)," Rose said. "Ifsomeone gets caught, I'd like to ask them, 'Do you think this helpsyou?'"
It's a question that also would double as a suitable follow-up fiveyears from now when Finchem awards the Tour a clean bill of dopinghealth. Do Finchem & Co. really think this helps?
Concedes the commissioner: "If you're not getting positive tests,somebody is going to write a blog saying you're doing it wrong."
The Tour's not doing it wrong. Instead, maybe a sports world benton bending or breaking the rules prompted the Tour to do the wrongthing.