Former WADA Chief On Golf: "There’s a problem there."

Moira Gordon quotes former WADA chief Dick Pound, hosting a lecture at Stirling University, explaining golf's attitude toward drug testing.

Long opposed by PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem, he recounted this conversation.

“We have all seen the shape changes in golfers and the distances they are hitting now and we know that the equipment is better and the balls are better but it isn’t just that,” said Pound, who recalled a conversation with the commissioner of the PGA Tour, Tim Finchem, stating that the sport which “has a great reputation for calling faults on yourself” could set an example to others by outing the cheats. But, the reply he received was disappointing. “He said: ‘Ah, but if I do that then they are all going to think my guys are just like those baseball players and football players and I don’t want that’. But if you follow some of the shape changes in the golfers and follow how, at a certain point, if they happen to come off them, you see how many more injuries they get. There’s a problem there.”

Comments

[Pasaplayer]

Duh.

[Lou Loomis]

He wrong...I thought it was the ball

[Convert]

"We have all seen the shape changes in golfers" not really. Nothing drastic like baseball think Sammy Sosa. I know football players that put 40 pounds, hard to tell under pads. Shape changes I have seen can easily be explained by a few months in the gym.

Injury recovery, distance retention maybe, but not what he is talking about.

[gov. lepetomane]

Except for Tiger and Rory I cannot think of any golfer who changed his physique to resemble a "weight lifter" or body builder over say, 4 or 5 months. Not like Barry or Sammy. Even Woods and McIlroy took much longer to effect a transformation from relatively fit to muscled. And when I look at them, "roided" doesn't come to my mind, merely muscled. I'm sure there might be some golfers who have used PEDs, but not as certain as above. My guess is they would have used banned substances for quicker injury recovery than for strength enhancement.
Dick Pound . . . he may have shotta his WADA on this issue.

[BrianS]

The whole "body shape" thing is pretty out of date. Clemens is the best example of a guy who used but didn't look any different. For a great piece about my of my favorite (then) Orioles and his fall from grace due to steroids, see this:

http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/story/rafael-palmeiro-steroids-over-a-decade-later-the-baltimore-orioles-legend-moves-on-041816

[BDF]

Dick Pound always lives up to his first name. He is the man who cries wolf - to him, everyone is cheating, regardless of the evidence. Now, I am not so naive as to think it couldn't happen in golf, but this man is so one directional it is pathetic. He is still bitter about not getting to be the head of the IOC.

[KLG]

Favorite OT (but maybe not) factoid about Dick Pound: During the Atlanta Olympics he and his wife were asked, several times, late one night to refrain from jaywalking downtown. Mrs. Pound started shrieking when the female officer responded to their obliviousness and kneed her in the groin. Yep, arrested and charged with dumbassery. Don't know the disposition of the charges, but the "Don't you know who I am?" defense probably worked.

[RLL]

"... except for Tiger and Rory..." is not exactly clean bill of health, is it...? All I can say is, if Rors keeps snapping ligaments or suddenly starts having disc problems, Houston gonna have a problem...

[Flatahead Lake]

"Clemens is the best example of a guy who used but didn't look any different."

ha, ha...thanks for the laugh

[D. maculata]

Can't recall if it was Elmore James or Tim Finchem that sang: "Shake your moneymaker."

[RLL]

Me like Elmore J.

; }

[Easingwold]

got. lepetomane is right. Rory is just fit. Any young man with average genetics can look like Rory without steroids. Anyone who thinks otherwise never got off their arses and worked out.

[Kenoneputt]

It's been said, over and over, we're not talking about anabolic steroids here. The PEDS a golfer would take would almost certainly be aimed at keeping them on the course despite hitting thousands of practice balls.

Or whatever the hell Galena was peddling.

IMHO it is virtually impossible for me to believe that not a single golfer has ever used something prohibited.

[Tighthead]

I always thought that Vijay really dropped off when testing started. Nobody worked harder, nobody wanted it more than he did, except possibly Tiger.

Dick Pound wouldn't be doing his job if he wasn't suspecting that PED use was more widespread than tests indicate and the public believes.

[Pops]

Hard to imagine that no one on Tour has juiced, but the proof for me that this isn't a problem is the fact that the players aren't complaining. If someone was really juicing and winning, I think you'd hear howls from the players. In the meantime, I offer you Tour winners Tim Herron and Boo Weekley.

[Matt Evans]

Fat guys bomb it too. WADA may just be a hammer looking for a nail.

[tlavin]

I tried a case nearly thirty years ago. Main witness was a race car driver named Dick Pole. Asked him to tell the jury his name. After he did, I said, "how about I call you Richard?" "That'd be a first," he said. "So, Richard, was my client a member of your pit crew?"

A few laughs along the way, but he wasn't a dick.

[just night putting]

I picture Eldrick looking around like Ralphie in Christmas Story when the teacher wants him to confess to Flix's flagpole problem.

[John M]

Dick Pound doesn't have the job anymore. He is just another former Olympic fraud trying to hang on to something approaching importance. I'm not sure if I accept his "recollection of a conversation" with Tim Finchem. Sounds pretty self serving.

[Ryan]

Look at you guys, all judgmental. Of course there is doping in golf. Every sport said "Oh this doesn't concern us, doping doesn't help here." Now look at the doping cases in the Premier League or even chess. As long as they refuse to do real, out of competition testing, Golf is not a clean sport. The OOC-testing on the PGA Tour is to be considered the days leading up to a tournament. On site. This us ridiculous.

[Chico]

Anyone who thinks that there are no drugs in professional golf- men's and women's- is very naive.

[Original AG]

Chico +1. Yup, it's the money.

[Easingwold]

The rewards in sports, ie money is so big, drugs will always be considered by some, it's worth the risk. Even cycle racing has hiddin motors in some cycles to gain an advantage. Golf has had all types of physiques throughout it's history, from Billy Casper to Frank Stranaham. Just because someone like Rory puts on 20 lbs of muscle does not mean he took steroids, it's quite normal to do with average genetics and a good diet in the gym. Beta blockers and other perfomance enhancing drugs are another story however.

[gov. lepetomane]

@ chico +1 Because of your background, this changes my level of suspicion about use. Thanks.

Other thoughts: There should be more testing. Gary Player should submit to it weekly (just kidding).

"If you ain't cheatin', you ain't tryin' " Al Davis

[Chico]

Beta blockers were not uncommon in my day. Some well known players too. But of course that was legal then. No idea what they use now but as many have said where there's money there's potential for rule bending.

[A]

Some pretty well known LPGA players retired pretty quick when there was talk of testing.

[GG]

Pound has never been proven wrong yet on sports he has called out.

[thusgone]

i was amazed at the speed with which Lee Westwood transformed his body when he decided he needed a serious fitness regimen to make it to the next level. i'm not accusing him of anything, but he went from pudgy thick guy shape to near superhero pretty quickly.

[Lip Out]

Jason Day

[digsouth]

Day is due to fall, whether it be from natural or synthetic means: sometimes it almost seems he knows the end is in sight, and he is making hay while the sun shines.....

No call out on my part, just observation.

One think is for sure, his career is not going be long.

As to the players in general and use of ''help'', there will always be a faction that seeks an advantage, always.

The attempt at controlling Rx may be noble, but the leadership of these ''organizations'' needs to clean up their own money games and let the players do what they will. If some skier's heart blows up on a downhill, they probably already have a list of 20 excuses ready

[RLL]

Interesting that you bring up Player, gov. That's what a guy who has worked out all his life looks like, EW. And , IMO, it was Player who really opened this can of worms when he commented that "everyone knows some are using steroids" that year that Tiger showed up at the British Open in a skin tight black t-neck muscle shirt looking like Arnold Schwatzenegger. Tiger promptly exited the tourney (out of embarrassment, IMO), but to my knowledge, not a single journalist has ever pinned down Player to say who he was talking about.

Also, anyone recall some (men and women pros) using eyedrops in the middle of a round? My ophthalmologist joked with me once when he found out I played a lot of golf by showing me eyedrops he knew a lot of golfers use -- eyedrops with beta blockers in them...

[Easingwold]

RLL, I hear you. Player, working out all his life, was never muscular like Rory, granted. But I think that is down to genetics. I've known some clean bodybuilders who are much better built than Rory who "had the right parents" so to speak. Yes, they train different, but squatting 300 lbs will make you grow, if you can get to that lift. As for Tiger, the eye drops are interesting...but if you ever saw a top bodybuilder in person, you would know how small Tiger really is. He is just muscular for a golfer. Trouble is, when you see a really fit golfer next to Tim Herron, bless him, they look even more impressive. Steroids in golf ? I'd be surprised if they were all clean.

[RLL]

I agree, EW. I'm actually one of those guys who has small frame genetics, and with the exception of a couple of years in the late 60's, early 70's, when I was otherwise engaged ;=], I've been working out since I became a gymnast at age 15. And I still work out pretty much every day, although these days it's mostly yoga mixed with isometrics. (Think I'm older than you, btw. ) And I once had a doctor giving me a physical ask if I'd been using steroids, although oddly it was when I transitioned to playing tennis... ;=] This is just to say that Ive been around gyms, etc, a LONG time and I know what it feels like to be falsely accused... But I also know the difference between guys sweating the muscle out of workouts with and without the "help."

Question for you -- have you seen Rory in person both before and after? (As you know, I have, and it was only after seeing him in LA this year that I was a bit, shall we say, startled...). Same was true with TW. And I reject the false football player analogy. Those guys are on another planet to begin with. First time I stood near Tiger in person, I, too, was actually surprised that he wasn't bigger...

[Easingwold]

RLL, respect. I knew a gymnast in the '70's, first person I ever saw who could do a back flip, to say I was impressed was an understatement.
I'm 58, played rugby in the '80's. I had to get stronger, hit the gym ( they put me in at 2nd row because I could tackle ) and it worked. To my regret, I stopped at 33 when I started golfing. I gained the wrong wieght, then after a major family setback and 3 operations, I decided last year to work out again, this time for the rest of my life. Talk about a struggle ! Had a new shoulder put in 3 years ago, I've learned the lesson you have always known, take care of ourselves.
I haven't seen Rory in person, only saw Tiger once. I agree Rory's change is startling, but I feel it's because he was a boy on tour at 17 with his puppy fat if you like, longer hair, then hit the gym. Hard to believe he has been a pro for almost 9 years already. Then the spray on Nike gear seems to magnify it all. I'm a big fan of Rory, if it ever emerged he took the gear, I'd feel let down as a fan, personally. As always, Tiger is another story, it's 50-50 he took gear to me, with all the breakdowns he has had, but we may never know.

[RLL]

Respect to you too, EW. And good health. And as you know, I'm a big fan of Rors, too. In some ways, I'm not even talking about juice. I feel like he's fallen down the dumbbell rabbit hole like Tiger, and what's making me sad is the sense of deja vu about it. But then, I'm more impressed watching him on the range when he sets up three buckets at 20, 35, and 50 yds and drops pitch after pitch in all three of them than I am with the muscles. Do the muscles do anything for winning, is what I care about. I don't think so. In fact, it may hurt. And as a real fan of them both, that's what bums me out.

[Easingwold]

Much appreciated RLL and you too. Rory did admit to back problems and he feels gym work only helps him in this area , I tend to agree it could give him a longer career ( like Player ) if he trains smart. I guess we have to wait to see if he trains smart, or not so smart like Tiger did. Rory is going through a frustrating time, it should be even more obvious to him results on the course matter most.
I'd like to see that bucket drill ! I plan to go to more Opens now I'm retired. Just got to get through moving house first...stress :-)

[Kg]

Pound is a strong advocate. It was him that pushed the Olympic movement to get serious on testing and helped create WADA. He wanted to reform the Olympic movement and get rid of the fat cats who were behind the scandals.
He is routinely asked about sports testing programs and he is honest. Many are not designed to catch the cheats, just avoid embarrassing the sport. I don think Rory or anyone else is necessarily doping but I would think several would consider banned drugs to help recoup from injuries. As I recall many did question Duvals sudden strengthening back in the day but nobody actually accused him.
You might not like the way Pound does things, but like a previous poster mentioned, he's rarely been wrong.

[DTF]

Looks like love...

[Tighthead]

Pound said the NHL was ripe with drug abusers and the old guard hockey types sneered at him. He specified that he included Sudafed use, which was a widespread practice and a dirty little secret and everyone just shut up.

Easing, they put you at second row because you weren't fast enough for the back row, but at least you weren't fat enough for the front row.

[Easingwold]

Tighthead, pretty close to the truth there. Nothing great, just local level. I played when the hooker had a proper job in the scrum, not like today. Plus, they are all monsters now, Meninga and Lomu changed rugby forever. Steroids are there too, unfortunatly.