The Common Golfer

You didn’t think Doug Barron “cleanly” missed the cut in every tournament he played this year, did you?  Clearly he was doing something to gain an advantage, and average 277 yards off the tee!  Today, Barron became the first player to be in violation of the PGA Tour’s substance abuse policy.  As a result, he was immediately suspended for one year.

The Tour’s policy states, however, that it doesn’t have to reveal what substance was being used.  That actually poses an interesting question; everyone jumps to assume that steroids were being used to gain a distance advantage.  They’re probably right, but we shouldn’t entirely rule out stimulants of some sort…like something to keep you sharp week after week, or something to help you focus more.

Through the Tour offices, Barron immediately issued an apology.  ”I would like to apologize for any negative perception of the tour or its players resulting from my suspension. 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.”

He has played 8 years on tour, with his best finish a tie for third place at the 2006 Byron Nelson Championship.  Sadly, his career seems to be slipping away lately.  He played a full season on the Nationwide Tour last year, missing 12 of 17 cuts.  This year, he played 4 Nationwide events and 1 Tour event, missing all cuts.  The last time his name was in the news was in 2006 when he took his shirt off to play a ball from the water (you’re welcome for the picture – seriously, shouldn’t he be more worried about his pants?).

I can’t say I blame the guy.  I’ve often found myself fantasizing about what it would be like to play on Tour.  I’m not condoning the use of performance-enhancing drugs, but it wouldn’t shock me to hear that a lot of Nationwide Tour and mini tour players are using drugs.  When you’re so close to accomplishing the dream, and to actually “making it,” how many of you wouldn’t pop a few pills if you knew that would put you over the top?

In that respect, I find myself torn; on the one hand, Doug Barron is a despicable cheater who shouldn’t be allowed back on Tour.  On the other hand, he’s just another regular guy out there trying to live out his dream.  What do you think?