There is constant speculation that players use performance-enhancing drugs on the PGA Tour. The rumors about the players running wild 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 starting in the early 2000s. Ideas about how a player could win more than 25% of every tournament he entered without cheating were hard to find credible. As all PGA Tour players lower their scoring averages, become stronger and more athletic, speculation and doubt are at an all-time high. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay While the topic of golfers using performance enhancers eventually died down, a new face appeared on tour, Rory Mcilroy. During his rookie year in 2010, Rory's lean body was far from speculation of using performance-enhancing drugs. 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 during this dramatic change in body mass, fans, the media, and other PGA players began talking about the possibility that Mcilroy was using performance-enhancing drugs. In the midst of the heated headline about performance enhancers, Mcilroy himself stated, “I could use HGH and get away with it” (Madden). This incident isn't the only head-turning event to draw 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 the muscle booster IGF-1, better known as Deer Antler Spray (Nicholson). Although caught using IGF-1 to reduce injury recovery time, Vijay Singh was not suspended as the PGA ruled Singh's case was accidental (Nicholson). Singh's ruling has raised many concerns as IGF-1 is banned from all four major sports. The question began to emerge as to how many other players were exploiting the PGA Tour's drug testing loopholes to get ahead of the competition. Golf is on par with other sports in many ways, including competition, fan base and television ratings, but falls dramatically behind when it comes to drug testing. The PGA Tour has had only nine banned substances since 2008, the fewest banned substances of any national sports substance abuse policy. While the PGA has nine banned substances, Major League Baseball's substance abuse policy has 115 and an increasing number of banned substances (Carter). Since the PGA continues to have nine banned substances for nearly a decade, touring players know exactly what the test results will be before the actual tests are performed. Because of this, hundreds of the world's best golfers could use performance enhancers before each tournament and not get caught. Unlike the PGA tour, all four major sports (NBA, NFL, NHL and MLB) have private substance abuse lists on the rise. Because the NFL has 192 banned substances, one of which is IGF-1, Singh's drug of choice, Ray Lewis, a former NFL player with thirteen NFL Pro Bowl appearances, was given a six-game suspension and a $25,000 fine for using IGF-1. Players in the four major sports are held accountable for their drug-abusing actions, and it gives the competition a sense of relief knowing there are no cheaters among them. Since the policy on the abuse ofNFL drug is revamped every year with new drugs, the PGA tour has unprofessionally chosen to look the other way from the improving science and technology of the fast-growing pharmaceutical industry. In 2015 MLB issued 528 random drug tests to players on active MLB rosters, this shatters 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 took place in MLB (John). This type of steroid is banned from all four major sports but is not tested for the PGA tour. The lack of testing on the PGA has given fans and the media doubts about whether all players are becoming stronger and more athletic in naturally and morally efficient ways. Many people believe that the lack of drug testing on the PGA Tour is directly linked to the fact that it is a non-contact sport. However, this has proven to be false as there are many non-contact sports that have substantial drug testing policies. Cycling tests for over 75 banned drugs through their athletes' blood and urine. This far exceeds the number of banned substances on the PGA Tour. Lance Armstrong, the seven-time Tour de France winner, was caught using three banned substances including cortisone, testosterone and erythropoietin (MacKinnon). Attention was brought to the PGA Tour after Armstrong's case due to the fact that two of these three drugs were not even tested and banned in their athletes. After considering the adjustment of the PGA's banned substances policy, the PGA Committee has decided to leave these substances off the banned list to protect the image and sponsorships of tour members. Lance Armstrong was recently stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and banned from cycling for life. This sparked a lot of controversy due to his dominance in the sport. Such a controversial decision in the sports world has led to questioning of performance-enhancing drugs in any sport, especially in another non-contact sport such as golf. The possibility of having PGA Tour winners using the same drugs as Lance Armstrong led to the idea that cheaters ruled the sport of golf. However, the answer to whether PGA Tour winners use performance-enhancing drugs will never be answered if drug testing doesn't increase. Furthermore, if testing increased and players who previously won were caught using drugs, would their winnings be taken away is a question no one can answer. With technology in this modern era, the big question of why there are no major drug testing regulations on the PGA tour is constantly being asked throughout 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 opening and opening hours with off-season and off-season periods during their sports. In golf, however, there is no off-season, with tournaments taking place every week. Due to the lack of breaks during the season, there is no time when the PGA can carry out heavy drug testing, as all HGH and PED drug tests require a blood and urine sample. With no surprises in the golf program, touring players would be able to flush their systems of all banned performance-enhancing drugs before testing is done. Another reason drug testing on the PGA tour hasn't been increased to keep the.
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