For some of you reading this, you may have already heard some of the media talk about steroids in golf. For the rest you, it may come as shock that the words “steroids” and “golf” would be used in the same sentence together. Over the last year professional sports has been tainted by steroid use among our heroes. As Barry Bonds chased probably the most sought after record in sports, many have become apathetic due to the claims of Bond’s steroid use. This year’s Tour de France’s overall leader was comfortably in the lead deep into the race when he was removed for lying and suspected steroid use. Yet I never thought I would read headlines that equated steroids with golf. However, this is where I found myself a couple weeks ago.

Steroids in golf? You’re kidding me? I had to check out a couple different news publications and slap myself once to make sure I was reading it right. Yet much to my dismay, leading up to last weekend’s British Open, golf great Gary Player stated that he knew of at least one golfer who had used steroids. I commend Gary Player for stepping up to comment on it, but his comments were quite untimely leading up to one of the biggest tournaments of the year.

As a golfer myself, it hurts that the sport I’m most passionate about is now under the radar for drug use. Nobody wants to hear about their heroes being suspected for drug use, yet we’ve found ourselves in a place of constantly asking a champion these days: “I wonder if they used steroids”?

I don’t fault Gary Player for his words; however I do fault someone else. I fault no other than Dick Pound, chairman of the World Anti-Doping Agency. Dick Pound for years has been the lead horse on stomping out steroids in sports. Whenever stories of steroid use have surfaced, Pound has been right there sharply rebuking those who have been suspected of steroids, as well as advocating for more drug testing. He’s stood toe to toe with the likes of Floyd Landis and Lance Armstrong. Many have criticized Pound for his often slanderous comments toward specific athletes and his unprofessionalism.

Shortly after Gary Player’s comments, Dick Pound responded by commending Player, but then went further by stating that these comments bring a needed “wake up” call to the golf community.

Up until now, I’ve been rather neutral in my feelings for Dick Pound. I recognized the bluntness of his character, but knew that someone had to play the bad guy to weed out steroid use in sports. However, I’ve moved from being neutral toward Dick Pound to being disgusted with him. Who is Dick Pound to say that in essence golf needs to wake up to steroids? This is one small claim about one person using steroids. Pound has much bigger things to be worried about. There have been reports in past years where it was believed that up to 50% of baseball players were using steroids. Every year teams are dismantled in the Tour de France due to steroid use. And Dick Pound is concerned about one suspected golfer?
Has Dick Pound ever played golf? Has he even watched it? It makes no sense that a large number of golfers would be using steroids to elevate their game.

Do performance enhancers really help golfers perform better? Well to answer this question, let’s crunch some numbers. In 2006, Jim Furyk was second only to Tiger Woods on the money list and in the Official World Golf Rankings. In driving distance Jim Furyk was tied for 159th place. He was tied with Michael Connell (Following stats were taken from http://majors.golfweb.com/stats/leaders/r/2006/101). You know Michael Connell right? Right, I don’t know him either. Listen, I’ve lifted weights for a grand total of about 8 months throughout my whole life. If you put the right club in my hand I can give it a good whacking right down the middle of the fairway, often further than guys who are better and stronger than me. Now you put that sand wedge and putter in my hand and it’s a totally different ball game. Drives don’t win tournaments, chips and putts do.

Pump me up on steroids, give me a baseball bat and I’ll hit home runs, scoring runs for my team. Pump me up on steroids, give me a golf club and I’ll hit my first shot a mile and then my second shot to the next tee box, helping me none. If you want to take steroids and be a golfer, tour the world competing in driving contests. That’ll get you some fame on ESPN. Didn’t you see last year’s World Driving Championships?
If steroids are a problem in golf then human beings as a whole have dipped to a new level. In the meantime, World Series Poker Players beware; Dick Pound is coming after you next.

Even with the majors being over weeks ago and the inaugural Fedex Cup concluding last weekend, there is still a few more weeks of golf to be played. Although many of the top names will not be playing over the last few weeks, many golfers like this time of year because it gives them that last shot to win a tournament or gain some extra money without the pressure of some of the top players.

The third round of the PGA’s Turning Stone Resort Championship has just begun in Verona, New York. Robert Allenby is one of three top three golfers participating in the tournament. The other two being John Rollins and Henrik Stenson, who missed the cut. Steve Flesch is leading after the first two rounds with -13. He’s followed by Jeff Gove and Brendon de Jonge at -12.

The LPGA is taking the weekend off after last weekend’s Solheim Cup. The Senior’s Champions Tour is in the middle of a three day tournament at the SAS Championship. Mark Wiebe was leading after the first round with a 7-under 65.

The issue of steroids has finally reached the golf world. On the same day that American Floyd Landis was banned for doping and stripped of his 2006 Tour de France Title, several golf organizations signed an anti-doping policy. The policy comes after weeks of speculation of when professional golf would start taking the same steps that other professional sports were taking in tackling the problem of steroids.

Organizations signing the policy included the PGA Tour, European Tour, LPGA Tour, U.S. Golf Association, Royal & Ancient Golf Club, Augusta National Golf Club and the PGA of America. Most of professional golf is represented with the PGA, European Tour, LPGA Tour, and U.S. Association signing the policy.

Of course this is but the first step in a long process of carrying out the drug policy. The LPGA has been the first to act by announcing drug testing beginning in 2008. It’ll only be a matter of time before others start following suit.

Discussion of drug testing within professional had been looming around for a couple months since the PGA’s British Open. It was at that time, that golf legend Gary Player discussed knowledge of at least one professional golfer who had used performance enhancing steroids. Gary Player’s comments brought up many questions, since golf doesn’t require the same power, strength, and endurance as sports such as cycling, baseball, and football who have struggled with the problem of steroids over the past several years.

Despite many people’s questions about the intelligence behind the use of steroids in golf as well as the intelligence behind drug testing in golf, many argue that it’s best to go ahead and initiate a plan of action to be on the safe side, whether professional golfers are in fact using steroids or not. Of course a major point amidst the discussion of the new steroid policy in golf, as well as any sports going through a similar process, is the importance of upholding the honor and integrity of the game.

For more articles and updates regarding the recent anti-doping policy, check out ESPN’s golf page.

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Doing some online shopping to help you find prices on things such as hunting and fishing equipment, as well as even bigger ticket items such as televisions, can help quite a bit. Not only will you find plenty of price shopping opportunities but hunting equipment and television reviews are generally easy to find online.

With all of the season’s majors completed and now the inaugural Fedex Cup completed, Tiger Woods is taking the rest of the season off. Who could blame him? After starting slowly this season, Tiger again proved why he is the best golfer in the world by winning four of his last five tournaments. Tiger cruised to victory in the Fedex Cup after skipping the opening event.

Many sports analysts questioned whether Tiger was in form at the beginning of the year, after having opportunities to win a couple majors but falling just short. If Tiger didn’t quiet the critics at his impressive performance at the WGC Bridgestone, then he certainly silenced them after winning the PGA Championship. Tiger has won almost half the tournaments he has played in over the last two years.

It seems as though Tiger brought some needed excitement to the PGA Tour with his dominance throughout the Fedex Cup. The PGA season often loses it’s momentum once the majors have concluded. Yet the newly incorporated Fedex Cup seems to have drawn more attention to late season PGA tournaments, with the help of Tiger.

There are still a few more tournaments remaining on the PGA Tour but they will feature more younger players.

Other tournaments this weekend included the women’s Solheim Cup, which is a biennial tournament featuring the Europeans and Americans. It is basically the women’s Ryder Cup, occuring the years in which the Ryder Cup isn’t played. This year’s cup took place in Halmstad, Sweden. The U.S. team was playing with what many might have called a chip on their shoulder after analyst Dottie Pepper called the U.S. team “Chokin’ freakin’ dogs”, after a disappointing Saturday and trailing the Europeans. The U.S. team bounced back from several disappointing ties on Saturday, to dominate singles play on Sunday. The Americans did it despite rain, wind, and cold weather that had made the conditions tough. Leading their charge on Sunday was Morgan Pressel’s impressive upset over Annika Sorenstam. Other winners for the U.S. yesterday included Juli Inkster, Stacy Prammanasudh, and Nicole Castrale.

The Americans won the last Solheim Cup in 2005, but this was only the second time they have won the Solheim Cup on foreign soil. The Soheim Cup began in 1990.

Tiger Woods

Originally uploaded by coombskj

Tiger Woods easily cruised to victory today at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, winning both the Tour Championship and the $10 million Fedex Cup Title. For Tiger it was just another day on the course. Tiger flirted with history by coming within four strokes of shooting the lowest score in PGA history. Tiger finished with a 23-under par 257. Tiger shot a 5-under 65 for the day.

Unlike yesterday, Tiger never had any challengers during the final round. Both Mark Calcavecchia and Zach Johnson finished with a 15-under par 265.

Tiger adds yet another title to his collection with his claim of the inaugural Fedex Cup title. There were 5 golfers in contention going into the tournament, but it was clear after the first couple rounds that it was Tiger who was going to claim the title.

This ends the inaugural Fedex Cup playoff that has had it’s positives and negatives. With such low scores throughout the tournaments, expect harder courses in the future.

Tiger continued to have a cushion after Round 3 of the Tour Championship, carding another impressive 6-under 64. It looked as though Tiger would have some challengers after Masters Champion Zach Johnson just missed carding a 59, settling for a 10-under par 60 for the day and Mark Calcavecchia tying Tiger after the 15th hole. Yet two birdies by Tiger and a bogey by Calcavecchia gave Tiger a three stroke lead going into the final day. Tiger is at -19, followed by Calcavecchia at -16, Sergio Garcia at -14, and Zach Johnson at -13.

Tiger has all but won the Fedex Cup Title. The closest contender to Tiger is Rory Sabbatini, who is twelve strokes back at -7.

South African Tim Clarked blitzed out to an early lead at the Tour Championship on Thursday, despite rain that figured to affect scores. Play was suspended during parts of the first round yesterday due to rain. Clark matched the course record at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta with a 8-under par 62. Clark has never won a PGA event but continues to play near the top of the pack. This is evidenced by the fact that he’s in contention in the final tournament of the Fedex Cup Playoff. Only the Top 30 golfers from the Fedex Cup standings are playing in this weekend’s culminating event. However, Tim Clark didn’t follow up his blistering round today during round 2, as he finished with a 1-under 69. Clark is four shots off the lead.

None other than Tiger Woods has taken over the lead. Tiger shot a great 6-under par 64 in the first round, but shot even greater during the second round with a 7-under par 63, putting him at 13-under and 3 strokes ahead of Woody Austin. Tiger’s impressive first two rounds clearly put him in the driver’s seat to win the Fedex Cup. Usually it’s Tiger making a run for the leader during the third and fourth round, but unfortunately for the hopes of other golfers, it was round 2 that Tiger took over the lead. Other contenders for the Fedex Cup title include Mickelson, Stricker, Choi, and Sabbatini. Choi is the closest to Tiger at -8, followed by Mickelson at -6, and Stricker and Sabbatini at -4.

Tiger had a chance to easily beat the course record today after shooting 7-under on the front nine but had two bogeys on the back nine.

With one tournament left in the Fedex Cup Playoffs, there are 5 people in contention to take home the $10 million Fedex Cup Title. Of course after this past weekend’s win, Tiger Woods sits in the driver’s seat in first place. Following Tiger is Steve Stricker, Phil Mickelson, Rory Sabbatini, and K.J. Choi. Although Mickelson and Tiger both won Fedex Cup tournaments while also skipping one tournament each, it is Tiger who is comfortably in first because he finished tied for second in the Deutsche Bank Championship. Sabbatini and Choi are long shots for winning the title. Even for Stricker and Mickelson, they would have to win the tournament to have a real chance of winning the title over Tiger.

Tiger of course is still comfortably number one on the money list at $9,742,706. Second behind Tiger is Mickelson at $6,364,185 and Vijay Singh at $4,826,823. Singh had been in second place, but had a string of low finishes to move him down to third. Despite Singh’s bad finishes over the last couple weeks, he has still qualified for the Tour Championship this weekend.

For the World Rankings, as you can imagine it’s Tiger and Mickelson at one and two, followed by Jim Furyk, Ernie Els, and surprise comeback golfer Steve Stricker. For complete rankings and stats, check out the PGA’s website.

tiger woods

Originally uploaded by mycrei

Tiger Woods once again proved today why he is the best golfer in the world, winning the BMW Championship by two strokes over Aaron Baddeley. Tiger put himself in a position to win yesterday after shooting a 6-under par 65, putting him one stroke behind Aaron Baddeley and Steve Stricker. Both Stricker and Baddeley played good enough to win today, but not good enough to beat Tiger.

Tiger finished today with an 8-under par 63 and a 22-under par 262. Tiger’s score demonlished last year’s 13-under by Trevor Immelman. With Tiger’s 22-under par 262, he destroyed the course record of Cog Hill, which had been set by him four years ago. Behind Tiger was Aaron Baddeley who shot a 5-under 66 to finish two strokes behind Tiger. Steve Stricker shot a 3-under 68 to finish four strokes back.

Steve Stricker has been the feel good story of the year, coming back from a slump, and having several top ten finishes, including winning The Barclays. Yet Tiger was too much for him today.

With this win, Tiger now moves into first place of the Fedex Cup Rankings with only one tournament remaining to produce a winner. Tiger was the subject of debate a couple weeks ago when he skipped the opening tournament of the Fedex Cup Playoffs. Some said that he wouldn’t have a chance to win the Fedex Cup after skipping The Barclays, but obviously Tiger has proved otherwise.

The inaugural Fedex Cup Playoffs will conclude next weekend with the Tour Championship.

Check back for an updated money list, World Golf rankings, and Fedex Cup rankings.