Doug Barron Continues Battling Two Obstacles: the PGA Tour & His Health

In early November, before Tiger Woods crashed into a fire hydrant and set the golf world ablaze, Doug Barron was the big story in golf.  On November 2, the PGA Tour announced that Barron was the first player to test positive for performance-enhancing drugs and be penalized under their anti-doping program.  He would be suspended from the PGA Tour & Nationwide Tour for a year as a result of the positive test.

Barron in '08 at the PG County Open (Jonathan Ernst/Getty Images)

In the Tour's announcement of the suspension, Barron apologized for the suspension and the perception that his positive test might create in the public view of golf.

"I would like to apologize for any negative perception of the TOUR or its players resulting from my suspension. I want my fellow TOUR members and the fans to know that I did not intend to gain an unfair competitive advantage or enhance my performance while on TOUR," said Barron.

What Barron did not apologize for are the drugs that he took to cause the positive test.

Barron applied for and was twice denied what is known as a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE).  Under the Tour's policy, a TUE can be granted to players for substances that are prescribed specifically for purposes that don't enhance performance and where there is no alternative allowed substance. 

One of the two drugs that Barron applied for was testosterone - the naturally occurring hormone vital for male liveliness.  The other was a beta-blocker that Barron says he has been taking since he was 18.

He has been off of testosterone treatments since June, when he tested positive before the St. Jude Classic. 

"I have no sex drive right now," Barron says.  "My wife knows."

Barron admits that he did receive a testosterone shot approximately two to three weeks before the St. Jude.  It was a medical decision of desperation.

"Having been denied for a TUE twice, I said 'Heck with this.  I'm going to go with my doctors and be treated'," he said with emphasis.  "I couldn't get out of bed in the morning."

He contends that the testosterone treatment in June was his only treatment in the last 14 months.  Despite being suspended by the Tour for a year, the Tour can opt to test him anywhere, anytime because he is a member of the Nationwide Tour.  If he fails another test, he can be banned for life.

"My testosterone level is back to that of an 80 year old man.  It's as low as it ever has been."

After being notified of his positive test for both of his samples, Barron inquired with Tim Finchem about the appeal process. 

"Finchem said to me, 'If you appeal, you would come down to court in Jacksonville and will lose.'," Barron claims.

"[The Tour] had attorneys.  They tried to bully me.  But I can't prove that I was made to be an example."

It would have cost Barron $20,000 to fly himself, his lawyers, and his doctors down to Florida to participate in his appeal.  Instead, he filed for a temporary restraining order in a Memphis, Tennessee, court.

Barron was denied a temporary restraining order in a Memphis court in December.  He was seeking to play in the PGA Tour's Q-school in Houston.  Despite the loss, Judge Tu Pham indicated that questions raised by Barron's filing warranted further deliberation.

On January 28, Barron and his lawyers will continue their fight in court against the PGA Tour.  The January 28 court date is a procedural hearing to detail the timeline of a full-fledged civil trial.

Murray Wells, the lead attorney on Barron's counsel team, explained that he will be seeking discovery documentation from the Tour for the case.  Included in that requested documentation is the names of those who have tested positive for any drug in the Tour program and who has filed for a Therapeutic Use Exemption - that Barron was denied - as well as those who were granted them.

Further, Wells wants to see the scientfic studies and evidence that were consulted to inform the Tour's formation of its policy and how it is applied to its players.

At a basic level, the results of the suit will be able to tell Barron if and when he can receive testosterone therapy again.  At a larger legal level, Barron's counsel seek to prove their claims that the Tour's anti-doping program is unfair, lacking leaniancy for certain drugs on the World Anti-Doping Agency list of PEDs, and that enforcement of the policy by the PGA Tour may not be done uniformly.

Wells and Barron are both skeptical that Barron played just one PGA Tour event in '09 at Memphis on a sponsor exemption, but was selected for random drug testing.  Barron also had four Nationwide Tour starts in 2009.  He missed the cut in three starts and was disqualified in another.

They also feel that the Tour's anti-doping program is too restrictive for the sport.  Wells incredulously cited the example that Vick's Vapor Rub is considered a performance-enhancing drug.

Further, Barron says that suspensions and penalties under the Tour's anti-doping program are "totally up to [Tim] Finchem."  In what is a significant caveat in the Tour's program, the program manual says that "the Commissioner may depart from the sanction guidance in the International Anti-Doping Standards as he deems appropriate in a particular case."

Barron said that the Tour's lawyers claimed that his self-admitted therapy in June was not because of how he had been feeling, but that he was priming himself for his lone Tour start of the year.

He questioned the knowledge of the Tour's lawyers and experts, claiming that testosterone shots take time to work - in his case, somewhere in the area three to five months before he would be in the normal range of 500-600 nanograms/deciLiter for a 40 year old man.

Despite his claims pertaining to his particular condition, Barron affirms that testosterone can be abused.  He cites scientific evidence that abuse really happens when someone has a testosterone level about 1100 ng/dL - the very upper end of "normal" testosterone levels.

Barron told me that he has received over fifty phone calls of support from fellow players - some still in the game, others having been out of it for some time.  Among those who support him are players that have received a Therapeutic Use Exemption for testosterone, like he sought and was denied.

"A lot players don't want to stand up [to the Tour in public]."  He adds, "Golf is a selfish game.  You've got to worry about yourself."

Barron says that his testosterone level is even lower than those of the players who have been granted TUEs.  He has been completely weened off of testosterone and the beta blocker, and says he has felt good enough to play since October. 

"I used to have shakes from withdrawal symptoms," Barron explains.  "Now I have a chest pain every now and then, or my heart skips a beat, and I just have to slow down and deal with it.  I've upped my cardio and that has helped."

Despite that progress, Barron would still like to be able to seek testosterone therapy to reach levels consistent with a man his age.

"I'm trying to live as a healthy adult male, not enhance my performance."

While Barron awaits his medical and professional fate in court, he has decided to tee it up with the eGolf Tour.  The mini-tour features 18 events in two to three week sections, then a week off.  It's the perfect arrangement for someone who struggles with energy levels.

He says that he wants to keep fresh and active so that he can participate in 2010 Q-school.  Barron likes the variety of courses that the eGolf Tour plays, including two or three per tournament.  The conditioning of staying on Tour and being thrust into unfamiliar courses on a round-by-round basis will help him prepare for next fall, he says.

Completely unprompted, Barron said, "Very few player can up and play without practice and experience.  Tiger can.  He will come back stronger than ever."

Meanwhile, Barron will continue to prepare for his future in the game - making a significant health sacrifice to chase his dream.