Golf may be much about skill, but doping claims still linger

The use of performance enhancing drugs in sports goes back a few centuries.

It has been reported that the ancient Olympic champions ate various food and herbal supplements to enhance their performance. According to a Washington Post article, they drank wine, used hallucinogens, ate animal hearts and testicles in their search for potency.

Around 100 AD, Roman gladiators apparently fed their horses on an alcoholic beverage made from honey to make them run faster. They also used hallucinogens and stimulants to fight fatigue and injury.

The modern era of drug use in sports started in the late 19th century with the use of the coca leaf, heroine and caffeine used widely by athletes.

In 1928 the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) become the first international sporting federation to prohibit doping by athletes, introducing the first rule against doping in sports and in 1967 the International Olympic Committee (IOC) established a medical committee to fight doping.

However, it was not until 1968 that drug testing was conducted at the Olympic Games in Grenoble, France and again in Mexico City. Canadian Ben Johnson was perhaps one of the most in-famous athletes after failing a drug test after the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, Korea. He was later banned for life after a second positive test in 1993.

South African golfing legend, Gary Player, caused a stir among the golfing fraternity in 2007 when he claimed that drugs in golf was a fact.

“I know for a fact that there are golfers, whether it’s Human Growth Hormone (HGH ), creatine or steroids, that are doing it,” he said. “We’re dreaming if we think it’s not going to come into golf.”

Reactions to Player’s comments were varied; Butch Hammon supported Player saying the use of drugs in golf was a reality. Retief Goosen had a contrary opinion saying Player was trying to hurt the game of golf whilst Tiger Woods said the most he expected a golfer to test positive for was a “hangover”. Phil Mickelson said he had never heard of players using steroids.

Recently, Dan Olsen, a retired Tour player, claimed Tiger Woods had been suspended from the PGA Tour for one month under the Tour’s anti-doping programme, a claim denied by Woods, his agent Mark Steinberg and the PGA Tour themselves.

The popular opinion in golf is that stamina or strength do not contribute as much as skill, and therefore doping is not a major concern; either way, the controversy that has gripped track and field athletes is in golf to stay.