Golfer John Daly called the PGA Tour's drug testing procedure "a big joke" and "not at all" random, according to Michael Collins of ESPN.com. Daly addressed the topic last night on his SiriusXM radio show, saying, "This'll be the fifth or sixth year in a row I'm going to get drug tested [at this weekend's Valspar Championship]. It's the biggest bulls---, I'm sorry, I'm gonna say it, fine me. I don't care what you do, fix 'em right now, fine me, but I'm tired of it. ... This whole drug testing is a joke." Daly's "chief complaint was the predictability of the drug testing." He said, "I know when I'm getting drug tested. That's sad" (ESPN.com, 3/11). Golf Channel’s Rex Hoggard said, “The PGA Tour will semi-officially say that each player should be tested twice a year. By and large, I think it is random." But he added, "The Tour looks at certain situations -- guys that might be trouble areas -- and they go after them maybe more than others” (“Morning Drive,” Golf Channel, 3/11).
CRIME & PUNISHMENT: In N.Y., Karen Crouse wrote if the Tour "needed any more convincing that its lack of transparency in meting out fines and suspensions was hurting its product, Dustin Johnson’s news conference after his victory Sunday at the World Golf Championships event at Doral was the clincher." Johnson said of his six-month absence from the sport, "It’s personal, and frankly, it’s not really anybody’s business." But Crouse wrote the PGA Tour "is a big business, and Johnson is one of its marquee names who disappeared at the top of his game without a trace." The Tour’s "lack of transparency is sacrificing the players and the overall image it is meant to serve." PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem on Sunday said, "We don’t think the fans really want to know about most of the stuff we would be talking about." But Crouse wrote if "enough athletes attract attention for questionable behavior, pretty soon the whole sport becomes tainted" (N.Y TIMES, 3/10). Finchem said that the Tour "could change" its policy on reporting conduct violations in the future. Finchem: "I can see some benefits of dealing with that differently" (GOLF.com, 3/10).
