PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (AP) - Doug Barron, a 40-year-old journeyman who lost his tour card three years ago, became the first player to be suspended by the PGA Tour for testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance.

The American was immediately suspended for one year, the PGA Tour said Monday. He played eight full seasons on the tour, with his best finish a tie for third at the Byron Nelson Championship in 2006.

"I would like to apologize for any negative perception of the tour of its players resulting from my suspension," Barron said in a statement released by the tour. "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."

The tour announced the suspension about two hours before the World Golf Hall of Fame induction ceremony. The tour said it would have no further comment, and Barron's agent did not immediately return a call.

Under its doping policy, the tour announces a suspension but does not disclose what substance a player used. The tour did not start random testing until July 2008, which includes its second-tier Nationwide Tour.

Barron played a full Nationwide schedule last year, making only five cuts in 17 starts to earn $33,446.


He played four times on the Nationwide Tour this year, and his lone PGA Tour start came at the St. Jude Classic, where he missed the cut.

The last time Barron made news was in 2006 at what is now the Transitions Championship outside Tampa, Florida, where he removed his shirt to play a shot out of the water on the 16th hole at Innisbrook. He exposed an ample belly on television, drawing jokes from players.

Barron's most recent tournament was in September at the Mexico Open, co-sanctioned by the Nationwide Tour, where he missed the cut.

Have they tested Tiger ? He looks like a juicer to me. Does anyone even care anymore ?

In baseball ; A- Rod seems to have teflon coating compared to guys like Bonds and McGwire. THEY are villians ; while AROD , ...aRod...... a rod , seemingly , has suffered none of the problems those guys have suffered. Let the best "android" win............. GO PHILLIES !!

Obviously........whatever Barron had in his system did absolutely nothing for his golf. I'm sure we all feel better that the PGA Tour suspended some fourth tier guy for something they won't even talk about. GIVE THE GUY A BREAK FER CHRISSAKES..... He made 33 grand last year while spending....probably 50 grand just to play that Tour. Tiger is probably making 33 grand a minute on his bank accounts !!!

Where the heck did i put that can of androstinone................i need a little boost before i play.

Tiger was supposedly tested the first week they started.

You are really lucky, the article had a picture of him shirtless that wouldn't copy for me

Yes, I can't believe payrod is getting off so easy. Besides, he has a real egomania problem.

I don't REALLY suspect that Tiger is juiced. The guy is just a great player.

I'm often amazed at the guys who can play really good hockey who , shall we say , have less than spectacular bodies. It's even more true in the game of golf. Never judge a book by it's cover .

A-Rod FINALLY has some production in the post-season after making too much money for years and he's some kind of hero. Every time Bonds name comes up , he is linked with the steroid thing. He and McGwire are rotten bastards , while A-Rod plays in a World Series after he comes out to tell us he lied about his juicing.......and not one word about it !!! I just don't get the "press" at all.

Marvelous weather down here today. I have many projects to do .......but i hear the siren call of the golf course. Yessss.....my precious.......i will clean my clubs and come.

That is really interesting how he has avoided all the bad press, especially with all his other escapades. But now NY will love him and he will get booed even more when he returns here every year.
I don't know what St L was thinking in hiring McGwire as their hitting coach. He sure has nothing to offer the average player.
Great here today too but well over a week ago I promised I would cover his classes while he was at a workshop...he better have been there today It was 63* here but rain and wind for the next 4 days. Maybe even some thunder.

No way Tiger is juicing. He is smart and would not risk it. It is not like he got big overnight, it was very gradual.

As for Barron, no way they should have left him off the hook because he is a nobody golfer barely surviving. Rules are rules with no exceptions when it comes to steriod use.

There is always "way" ....and it wasn't that gradfual. He was kinda skinny in 1996 and fairly muscular in 1997 when he won that Masters by so many strokes. Having said that.......it is unlikely that Tiger would do any kind of steroid to gain an advantage......but ..........that was an era (early to late 90's) when "Andro" was widely used in just about every gym and workout spa in the universe. I was working out in a gym frequented by many different kind of athletes in 1995-96. The bodybuilders were all mixing that stuff in with their protein powder and it was considered just another supplement in the chain of stuff guys were eating. Anyone who was around a gym at that time was trying every supplement that came down the pike. Andro was not considered a "juicer" supplement at that time. That came later , when they tied it to McGwire and some others in pro sports.

Tiger is smart , but there was no drug policy at that time on Tour and his workout guy (or guys) could have been handing him the same mix of stuff every serious workout freak was using. Andro was a big part of "power shakes" at that time because it was not considered a steroid by the body nazis at the time. So.....there is WAY....but as you say, it's unlikely he did any of that stuff because he was too smart ....if that has anything to do with it.

Rules are rules...............McAvoy has spoken.

Maybe ; but McGwire deserves to work in his field like everyone else if they think he has some value. ( See my post to Roy about Andro) I have no idea what he ingested as far as serious juice goes , but i would bet most of those guys were doing Andro around that time. It was a staple in weight rooms everywhere. Look at the homerun numbers around that time. Those guys were just drinking their protein shakes and getting bigger and stronger. I doubt there was much thought put into it because it was widely available and NOT against the rules as anyone knew them at the time. Mark McGwire is hitting 50-60- 70 homeruns........and you are not going to drink the same "protein shake" he is drinking in the weightroom !!!

When you are putting something in your haunch with a needle ; that's one thing , but supplements were used by all and not really questioned by the athletes at that time.

Great weather here....played yesterday....wonderful . A decent round......could have been better with some kind of supplement though !

I saw the results first hand when 2 coaches at the school I was at got into the lifting and shake routine. Great example they set for the kids

I would bet that those guys are using creatine. Creatine has been used by highschool kids (and coaches) for years. It's been shown to be much more effective in a workout routine than Androstendione and , as far as i know , they haven't tied many negative side effects to creatine. It is said to be hard on the kidneys if you don't drink enough water every day. Creatine pulls water into the muscle tissue and allows for longer workouts. Every amateur and pro body builder on the planet is using creatine to get more out of their workouts.

Most of the muscle guys were creatine devotees where i worked out in the 1990's. I was working out for climbing at the time and bigger muscles ( and more weight) was not what i wanted. Climbing is a strength to body weight type sport and endurance is much more important than explosive strength , although there must be an element of the latter when doing the most extreme routes. Vitamins and a basic protein powder were all i ever used for supplements.

For hockey ; energy and strength are the pre-requisites. I lack both of these things and try to get by on my ability to hold..... and a good pokecheck. Kids are taking stuff like "Ripped Fuel " before games to give them an edge . The problem with these kind of things is the ephedrine in the mixture. Ephedra can be hard on the heart if there are health problems or an athlete is using inhalers for asthma. Kids tend to start using stuff if their friends are doing it , so they often don't use it in any kind of responsible way. Coaches need to educate themselves on what is happening in the supplement world.

Golf...............i don't know that there is anything that would give you an advantage in the game. A sense of where you are and the ability to be resolute when the occasion arrives are what is needed to succeed. Tiger has that in spades and he is obviously a physical specimen , so it's no wonder he is the best. When you think about it ; most sports require that mental aspect to be at your best. Now that i have bored everyone to death ................i feel like i need to workout or get on SOME kind of juice or cream that makes old guys better athletes.........not gonna happen

I'll do the workout anyway though....never say never.