The issue of pro golfers on steroids is getting more and more attention from the big media.  The NY Times and Sports Illustrated both recently have had articles relating to the topic.

Power has become such an important part of the game; "so much so that some players are questioning if golf could one day fall prey to the performance-enhancing drugs that have plagued other sports, if they have not infiltrated golf already. (1)"  Although there is no evidence of pro golfers using steroids, according to a 2005 survey by the NCAA, 1.3% of it's golfers had juiced.

Will steroids even help golfers? Not so much according to Tour player Bo Van Pelt. “As far as steroids ever helping out golf or a golf swing, I just don’t see it. Just because you’re hitting it a little bit farther, your scores aren’t going to be that much different. In golf there is too much short game, too much feel, too much carving shots.

“In football, it’s a power game,” Van Pelt added. “In baseball, it’s the off-center hits that instead of being flyouts are home runs. In golf, it’s still about controlling the distance. When you watch guys on Sunday, the guys who win the tournament are hitting it pin high and making the 6- to 8-footer. It’s not just always the guy that’s long.(1)” I can relate to that.  I played today with 3 guys, (ages 56, 64 and 70) and I out drove them by far most of the time.  I hit my 7 iron when they were hitting their 4 and 5's and I lost my shirt.

What can steroids do for you? The most common reason given by steroid users is that it improves their performance in sports and/or increases their recovery rate from training.  Considering the grind that golf is; between playing, hitting thousands of balls, traveling and working out, it could be tempting for guys trying to break into the Tour or stay on the Tour.

PGA Tour commish Tim Finchem got things going when he said, "the culture of the sport, the history of the sport: It's just as important to a player that he is playing by the rules as it is how good he hits the shot." Added Finchem, "The fact that players [in other sports] take steroids is not evidence to me that players in this sport are. I have no evidence of players taking steroids in this sport.(2)"

“Maybe I’m naive, because I have a hard time believing that anyone would cheat, I really do,” said Tom Lehman, the 1996 British Open champion and the 2006 United States Ryder Cup captain. “The culture of golf is such that you play by the rules."

“If you read in the paper that Tom Lehman just won the U.S. Open and he just took a drug test and he’s been using the clear for the last two years, the guys out here would vilify me,” he added, referring to the steroid tetrahydragestrinone. “It’d be over. For that reason alone, almost, it would keep guys clean.(1)”

Are you kidding me Tom?  I love ya' but you are VERY naive.

“We market the long ball,” said Joe Ogilvie, a PGA Tour professional and member of its policy board. “We market the guys who hit it 300 yards. If that’s your message, and people see that beginning at the high school level, I think as a tour it is very naive to think that somebody down the line won’t cheat.

“As it gets more popular and the zeroes continue to grow to the left of the decimal point, I don’t think there is any doubt that there will be cheaters,” Ogilvie added. “Golf is all about length, and the U.S.G.A., the P.G.A. of America and, to a certain extent, the PGA Tour are perpetuating it by blindly lengthening every golf course. It doesn’t seem like they have a whole lot of rhyme or reason.(1)”  The Times posted a great chart comparing "then and now" lengths of courses that have held multiple majors.

Tom Pernice Jr. and Tiger Woods are thinking ahead of the game.

Tiger said, "I think we should be proactive instead of reactive. I just think that we should be ahead of it and keep our sport as pure as can be.(2)"

“We’d be better off being ahead of the game," Pernice said. “If we’re going to test, do it now for future generations. I think we need to be a leader on this. From what I’ve heard, it’s easy to get this stuff in high school and college, so do something now and it will trickle on down the line.(1)”

Why wait until there is a problem?  Start testing now so it hopefully discourages usage of performance enhancing drugs.  Do we want golf to end up with the same black eye the pro cyclists have?  I am not sure in my lifetime if I will ever believe that any cyclist is clean.  Even the ones I want to run over on the main road in my town.

The PGA should get with the program and start testing now, before it's too late.

References

(1) "In Steroid Era, Will Golf's Integrity Stand Test?", Damon Hack, NY Times, 8/14/06
(2) "Does Power Corrupt?" Alan Shipnuck, Sports Illustrated, 9/4/06, Page 32

Anthony Renna, Titleist CGFI

Anthony is a Certified Golf Fitness Instructor (Titleist) , a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (NSCA), and a Sports Performance Coach (USAW)  who works with elite and recreational golfers.  Anthony has been working with golfers for almost 25 years, starting out as a caddie at Century Country Club in Westchester, NY.  He is founder of Five Iron Fitness, a golf-specific personal training company; www.GolfFitnessProducts.net, a resource for all things golf fitness; and www.BetterGolfwithFitness, a blog discussing the current issues in golf fitness. 

Anthony is also the host of the Better Golf with Fitness Podcast.

The articles at GolfFitnessProducts.net are for informational purposes only and are not intended to substitute for direct examination and exercise prescription by the appropriate health professional.  It is strongly recommended that you do not perform any exercise program without the consent of your personal physician.