Decision today on golfer’s drug ban

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This article was published 14/11/2009 (6154 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The PGA Tour’s first-ever suspension for violation of its anti-doping rules wound up in fed­eral court on Friday where lawyers for a 40-year-old journeyman tried to block the one-year ban.

Lawyers for Doug Barron, a profes­sional golfer from Memphis, sought a temporary restraining order on his one-year suspension for testing posi­tive for two banned substances in June. The tour announced earlier this month that he was the first golfer to be banned for violating the policy that went into effect July 3, 2008.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Tu Pham heard more than three hours of argu­ment and said he would make his deci­sion by early today.

Barron, who was not at the hearing, hopes to play in an event next week at the PGA’s Tour School, a prerequisite for a "tour card" qualifying a pro for lucrative tournaments on the PGA Tour. Barron, who started his career in 1995, tested positive for the anabol­ic steroid testosterone and propran­olol, a beta-blocker that calms nerves, at the PGA’s St. Jude Classics in Mem­phis in June. He was given a sponsor’s exemption into the tournament.

Lawyer Jeffrey Rosenblum, repre­senting Barron, said his client took the drugs under the supervision of a doctor for "therapeutic use" and made no secret of it.

He said Barron began taking tes­tosterone in 2005 because his natural level was below the level considered normal.

"It is not performance enhancing when it is used to keep a man within the normal range," he said.

Rosenblum said Barron is "dis­abled" under the Americans With Dis­abilities Act because low testosterone "impairs a major life activity and that is intimacy with your wife." Barron and his wife, who was in the court­room, have two children.

Rosenblum said Barron has taken propranolol since 1987 for a racing heart. In 2008, his doctor tried to "wean him off" the drug but he was still using it in June when he was test­ed.

"If he had tried to wean off of it faster he would have been medically unsafe," Rosenblum said.

Rosenblum said the PGA singled out Barron, an unknown journeyman, rather than better known players to make it look like it is cracking down on its policy, but he alleged that as many as 10 current pro golfers have taken illegal drugs but were not sus­pended. He said he would seek details from the PGA Tour during the discov­ery process if and when Barron’s case goes to trial.

The tour stated clearly that Barron was the first player to be suspended — not necessarily the first to receive a positive test. The tour is not required to suspend or announce any punish­ment for recreational drugs.

"This is an outrageous penalty when you compare it to baseball or football," he said.

By consent, lawyers for both sides agreed to move the case from state court to federal court in Memphis Fri­day morning.

Rich Young, attorney for the PGA Tour, said Barron knowingly violated the rules. He called testosterone "the granddaddy of anabolic steroids" and said "clean sports are a very import­ant public interest." Beta-blockers, he said, could calm the nerves of an ath­lete who had the shakes, giving him an unfair advantage.

"This isn’t fun or easy for anybody," Young said. "But it’s the right thing for a sport to do."

— The Associated Press