I ADMIT IT. I FEEL SORRY for Doug Barron, the 40-year-old journeyman who this week became the first player to be suspended by the PGA Tour for testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance. Someone had to be first and it happened to be Barron, whose tour career was going nowhere fast. He will be suspended from all tours for one year.An unflattering photo of a shirtless Barron has appeared at many sites and he’s become a bit of a laughing stock. Whatever he was taking wasn’t working has been the refrain.
Barron issued an obligatory statement and then disappeared as quickly as he appeared. I would, too.
“I would like to apologize for any negative perception of the tour or its players resulting from my suspension,” Barron said in a statement released by the PGA Tour on Monday. “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 thing is, Barron hasn’t played on the PGA Tour in three years (although he did play in one event this year). He also played in four Nationwide Tour events in 2009, and won no official money on either tour this year. In 2008, Barron won $33,446 on the Nationwide Tour.
If Barron violated the drug policy, I’m not defending his actions. We’ll probably never know if he is a sacrificial lamb as some have suggested. It’s just too bad this episode will very likely be his biggest claim to fame in golf.
−The Armchair Golfer
2 comments:
On the positive side, he may have more money in his pockets this year without all the expenses of Tour travel.
I like his statement - humble and completely believable.
I totally agree.
...And was quite surprised by some of the trite responses to this story from people who should know better.
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