Performance enhancing drugs in golf?

kagni

A couple of years ago Gary Player said that he knew of at least two PGA Tour players that were taking steroids. Most people didn't take much notice as Gary does like to hear the sound of his own voice. But given Tiger's cheating in his private life is it possible he cheated in his professional life too.

An interesting article here - http://bleacherreport.com/articles/317861-tiger-woods-and-steroids-or-hgh-could-it-be-true

heavyballs

kagni wrote: »

A couple of years ago Gary Player said that he knew of at least two PGA Tour players that were taking steroids. Most people didn't take much notice as Gary does like to hear the sound of his own voice. But given Tiger's cheating in his private life is it possible he cheated in his professional life too.

An interesting article here - http://bleacherreport.com/articles/317861-tiger-woods-and-steroids-or-hgh-could-it-be-true

i wouldn't say it's widespread but it happens allright,
2 lads i grew up playing football with ended up playing in England and they told me it's rampant down the Leagues as they didn't get tested like Premier players (i'm talking 5 years ago or so,it may have changed)

IITYWYBMAD

kagni wrote: »

A couple of years ago Gary Player said that he knew of at least two PGA Tour players that were taking steroids. Most people didn't take much notice as Gary does like to hear the sound of his own voice. But given Tiger's cheating in his private life is it possible he cheated in his professional life too.

An interesting article here - http://bleacherreport.com/articles/317861-tiger-woods-and-steroids-or-hgh-could-it-be-true

One of the well known side effects of taking anabolic steroids is a decreased sexual libido caused when testosterone is converted to estrogen. I don't think anybody could accuse Tiger of that.

BiffoGooner

IITYWYBMAD wrote: »

One of the well known side effects of taking anabolic steroids is a decreased sexual libido caused when testosterone is converted to estrogen. I don't think anybody could accuse Tiger of that.

Could have been taking bucketloads of Viagra to even it out.

markie4

IITYWYBMAD wrote: »

One of the well known side effects of taking anabolic steroids is a decreased sexual libido caused when testosterone is converted to estrogen. I don't think anybody could accuse Tiger of that.

That'd be assuming that Tiger was using steroids rather than something like EPO or HGH, which would allow him to recover just as fast and train for the extreme lengths quoted in the piece.

The canadian doctor mentioned, Dr Galea, in another article says he gives himself HGH to keep up with his much younger wife, so BiffoGooner might be on something

f22

I use solpadeine, helps keep the night befores drink down and stops my head from exploding.

Daithio9

kagni wrote: »

A couple of years ago Gary Player said that he knew of at least two PGA Tour players that were taking steroids. Most people didn't take much notice as Gary does like to hear the sound of his own voice. But given Tiger's cheating in his private life is it possible he cheated in his professional life too.

An interesting article here - http://bleacherreport.com/articles/317861-tiger-woods-and-steroids-or-hgh-could-it-be-true

Yea I can just see it now, Tiger sinks another clutch put to win a major or similiar and in the interview afterwards he thanks his coach, God and most importantly his dealer becuase with out them he wouldn't be where he is today.

GreeBo

The argument against Tiger taking them has always been that he is trying to tone down the power in his swing, not get bigger. However this missed the point (raised here) that depending on what you are taking it can help you train longer and recover faster....anyone know any golfers who needed to catch up on training and recover from injury quickly:eek::p

Trampas

I would have thought players would be taking drugs to slow down their heart to make them more calmer under pressure and hopefully make them swing better than not on drugs.

heavyballs

Trampas wrote: »

I would have thought players would be taking drugs to slow down their heart to make them more calmer under pressure and hopefully make them swing better than not on drugs.

i don't think that would work personally
in pro golf tourneys you're adrenaline will be racing,and even if the drugs slow that down then how would you compensate for the adrenaline the way all pro's do in those situations,

gorfield

Ok, Tigers great strength- Making EVERY putt that really mattered.Now wind back to his "one legged" us open win. PGA tour announce 2wks before that random testing wil begin after the us open. Tigers injury flares up suddenly. He wins on one leg apparantly, with the pain only seeming to happen when he hits a "good shot". Fine you might say, he undergoes surgery (of which there are no records) as he got this done "behind closed doors" and is out for 8 months. Guess how long it takes traces of beta blockers and performance enhancing drugs to leave your system????? 6-8mths.....

"But tiger was tested???" Yes he was......when he returned....clean.
Then we see Tiger last year lead a major after 54h only to miss putt after putt when it mattered......fast heartbeat??? I think Finchem told Tiger go away for 8mths get clean coz the PGA tour would be in serious trouble if there was no Tiger, and now the latest stuff??? Again no medical reports made public. The only medical report EVER made public about him was his "clean" drug test after his layoff.........

Sorry mods if this is a bit much......just my thoughts

BiffoGooner

gorfield wrote: »

Ok, Tigers great strength- Making EVERY putt that really mattered.Now wind back to his "one legged" us open win. PGA tour announce 2wks before that random testing wil begin after the us open. Tigers injury flares up suddenly. He wins on one leg apparantly, with the pain only seeming to happen when he hits a "good shot". Fine you might say, he undergoes surgery (of which there are no records) as he got this done "behind closed doors" and is out for 8 months. Guess how long it takes traces of beta blockers and performance enhancing drugs to leave your system????? 6-8mths.....

"But tiger was tested???" Yes he was......when he returned....clean.
Then we see Tiger last year lead a major after 54h only to miss putt after putt when it mattered......fast heartbeat??? I think Finchem told Tiger go away for 8mths get clean coz the PGA tour would be in serious trouble if there was no Tiger, and now the latest stuff??? Again no medical reports made public. The only medical report EVER made public about him was his "clean" drug test after his layoff.........

Sorry mods if this is a bit much......just my thoughts

Genuine conspiracy theory there , interesting!

Daithio9

gorfield wrote: »

Ok, Tigers great strength- Making EVERY putt that really mattered.Now wind back to his "one legged" us open win. PGA tour announce 2wks before that random testing wil begin after the us open. Tigers injury flares up suddenly. He wins on one leg apparantly, with the pain only seeming to happen when he hits a "good shot". Fine you might say, he undergoes surgery (of which there are no records) as he got this done "behind closed doors" and is out for 8 months. Guess how long it takes traces of beta blockers and performance enhancing drugs to leave your system????? 6-8mths.....

"But tiger was tested???" Yes he was......when he returned....clean.
Then we see Tiger last year lead a major after 54h only to miss putt after putt when it mattered......fast heartbeat??? I think Finchem told Tiger go away for 8mths get clean coz the PGA tour would be in serious trouble if there was no Tiger, and now the latest stuff??? Again no medical reports made public. The only medical report EVER made public about him was his "clean" drug test after his layoff.........

Sorry mods if this is a bit much......just my thoughts

IITYWYBMAD

gorfield wrote: »

..... Guess how long it takes traces of beta blockers and performance enhancing drugs to leave your system????? 6-8mths.....

Do you have any links for that? I thought that Beta Blockers would be out of your system in a matter of days?

GreeBo

Trampas wrote: »

I would have thought players would be taking drugs to slow down their heart to make them more calmer under pressure and hopefully make them swing better than not on drugs.

Someone (I think Nick Price, cant remember now) was on beta blockers for a heart condition and said it negatively impacted his game.
Sure it meant that he didnt get nervous or down on himself when he missed a putt, but it also meant that he didnt care if he won or lost, which had a very detrimental impact on his game.

Pete M.

Don't play myself, though several of my mates who can't get enough of it like to toke a wee spliff as they go round the course.

They're decent golfers too, well that's according to them.

Maybe they're delusional.....

downthemiddle

GreeBo wrote: »

Someone (I think Nick Price, cant remember now) was on beta blockers for a heart condition and said it negatively impacted his game.

I think the first pro to be prescribed beta blockers was a journeyman pro called Nick Job. I don't think they could have been described as performance enhancing.

Golf is no different to any other sport, the temptation to cheat is there for some people. In an ideal world no athlete would ever use PED's but the reality is they have been used since the time of Ancient Greece. We have been fortunate in this country that PED's are a fairly recent phenomenon but the experiences of Michelle Smith, Cathal Lombard and Geraldine Hendricken show that we haven't escaped this blight on sport.

There has been a lot of speculation on this thread about certain golfers. I can remember the controversy about Ben Johnson in 1988. What wasn't known at the time was that Carl Lewis had previously failed a drug test but because he was the golden boy of the sport the American federation covered this up.

If a high profile golfer fails a test it will do untold damage to the sport especially from a sponsorship and tv perspective. It will also call into question one of the fundamentals on which the sport is based, the honesty and integrity of the individual golfer.

Unfortunately it is inevitable that a golfer will eventually test positive. The profile of the golfer will determine the fallout. If it happens to be a journeyman pro expect it to be portrayed as proof that testing is working. If it is a top 20 golfer there will be carnage.

markie4

downthemiddle wrote: »

Unfortunately it is inevitable that a golfer will eventually test positive. The profile of the golfer will determine the fallout. If it happens to be a journeyman pro expect it to be portrayed as proof that testing is working. If it is a top 20 golfer there will be carnage.

This has already happened. Journeyman called Doug Barron has already tested positive for testosterone and has been banned by PGA Tour. Shaun Micheel, former PGA championship winner, but borderline journeyman pro at this stage has a therapeutic use exemption for testosterone medication, due to his low testosterone production. Barron has the same condition, but didn't qualify/fill out the necessary paperwork. So he's currently suing the PGA Tour.:(

To get slightly back on topic, I've heard that rumour about Tiger before, but fact is he was a great putter for a long time, and was used to winning from a very young age. Just as likely that he's some sort of sociopath who doesn't think like "normal" people, and doesn't react in the same way (PGA performance excepted). His change in size is much more questionable and I think it's likely (for whatever reason) that if/when he returns he won't be packing quite as much muscle.

Until pro golf has meaningful testing, it's all just going to be speculation

chemicalfred

f22 wrote: »

I use solpadeine, helps keep the night befores drink down and stops my head from exploding.

As Borat would say "naughty naughty":)

durkadurka

We did see tiger lose a few coming down the stretch, which was unlike him, and he lost the rag a bit too last year.

Maybe is some drugs keep your heartbeat even they might help a golfer on a sunday because its mostly mental then, and tiger's mental strength is legendary.

There's another conspiracy that he was actually serving a drug ban in 2008