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  • Essay / Controversial cases of Pga Tour golfers arrested for doping

    There is constant speculation that players are using performance enhancing drugs to improve their performance on the PGA Tour. Rumors of players juicing before the competition began when a new name entered the winner's circle; Tiger Woods took the golf world by storm with his dominant performances in the early 2000s. It was hard to believe that a player could win more than 25% of every tournament he entered without cheating. As everyone on the PGA Tour lowers their scoring average, becomes stronger and more athletic, speculation and doubt reach an unprecedented level. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay As the topic of golfers using performance enhancers finally died down, a new face appeared on tour, Rory Mcilroy. During his freshman year in 2010, Rory's skinny body was far from speculation about performance-enhancing drug use. However, at the start of the 2013 playing season, Mcilroy gained twenty pounds of muscle and lost fifteen pounds of fat in two months (Madden). As heads turned at this sea change among body mass fans, the media and other PGA players began talking about the possibility of Mcilroy using performance-enhancing drugs. Amid the fiery headline about performance enhancers, Mcilroy himself said, “I could use HGH and get away with it” (Madden). This incident is not the only notable event that has drawn attention to the lack of drug testing on the PGA Tour. Former world number one and three-time major champion Vijay Singh was caught using IGF-1 muscle enhancer, better known as Deer Antler Spray (Nicholson). Despite being caught using IGF-1 to reduce recovery time from an injury, Vijay Singh was not suspended as the PGA ruled Singh's case accidental (Nicholson). Singh's decision has raised many concerns since IGF-1 is banned in all four major sports. The question of how many other players were using PGA Tour drug testing loopholes to get ahead of the competition began to emerge. Golf is on par with other sports in many ways, including competition, fanbase and television viewership, but it lags considerably behind when it comes to drug testing. The PGA Tour has had just nine banned substances since 2008, the smallest amount of banned substances in any national sports substance abuse policy. While the PGA has nine banned substances, Major League Baseball's substance abuse policy has 115, and a growing number of banned substances (Carter). While the PGA continues to ban nine substances for nearly a decade, players on tour know exactly what the test results will be before the actual testing is done. Because of this, hundreds of the world's best golfers can use performance-enhancing products before every tournament and not get caught. Unlike the PGA Tour, all four major sports (NBA, NFL, NHL and MLB) increasingly have private substance abuse lists. With the NFL having 192 banned substances, including IGF-1, Singh's drug of choice, Ray Lewis, a former NFL player with thirteen NFL Pro Bowl appearances, was sentenced to a six-game suspension and a fine of 25,000$ for using IGF-1. Players in all four major sports are being held accountable for their drug-related actions and it gives the competition a sense of relief knowing there are no cheaters among them. While the NFL's drug policy is revamped every year with new drugs, the PGA Tour has unprofessionally chosen to look away from the improved science and technology of a growing pharmaceutical industry. In 2015, MLB administered 528 random drug tests to players on active MLB rosters, shattering the PGA's embarrassing number of three random drug tests in 2015 (Stark). One of the most infamous players in MLB history, Alex Rodriguez, a former New York Yankee, tested positive for a human growth hormone steroid known as Primobolan after testing in the MLB (John). This type of steroid is banned in all four major sports but is not tested on the PGA Tour. The lack of testing on the PGA Tour has made fans and media doubt whether all players are becoming stronger and more athletic in a natural and morally effective way. Many people believe that the lack of drug testing on the PGA Tour is directly related to it being a non-contact sport. However, this turns out to be false, as many non-contact sports are subject to substantial drug testing policies. Cyclists test for over 75 banned drugs in their athletes' blood and urine. This far exceeds the substances banned on the PGA Tour. Seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong was caught using three banned substances, including cortisone, testosterone and erythropoietin (MacKinnon). Attention was drawn to the PGA Tour after the Armstrong case because two of these three drugs were not even tested and banned in their athletes. After considering an adjustment to the PGA's banned substances policy, the PGA Committee decided to leave these substances off their prohibited list in order to protect the image and sponsorships of tour members. Recently, Lance Armstrong was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and banned from cycling for life. This caused great controversy due to his dominance in the sport. Such a controversial decision in the sports world has led to questioning the use of performance-enhancing drugs in all sports, particularly in another non-contact sport, golf. The possibility of having winners on the PGA Tour using the exact same drugs as Lance Armstrong gave rise to the idea of ​​cheaters ruling golf. However, the question of whether PGA Tour winners use performance-enhancing drugs will never be resolved if drug testing does not increase. Additionally, if testing increased and players who had already won were caught using drugs, whether their victories would be taken away is a question no one can answer. With technology in the modern era, the big question of why there are no major drug testing regulations on the PGA Tour is constantly asked in the sports world. There are a few key reasons why the PGA committee has put increased drug testing on the back burner. First, in all four major sports, there are on-and-off schedules with break periods and off-seasons during their sports. However, in golf there is no low season, with tournaments taking place every week. In.