Thaindian News

Washington, Apr.2 (ANI): A golfer has questioned the PGA’s double standards in exonerating top golfer Tiger Woods on an alleged sexual infidelity charge, and allowing him to play in the Augusta Masters this year.

Doug Barron believes that it is unfortunate that while Tiger Woods, after a string of infidelities, returns to golf in somewhat celebrated fashion at the Masters, he has to sit out on a year’s suspension from the PGA Tour because, he says, he wanted to be more intimate with his wife.

Barron is ranked 891 and is the poster boy for the PGA Tour’s drug policy.

Barron laughs when he says: “I don’t really put the two together. I’m not judging Tiger. I guess the irony is the timing.”

“All I’m asking is why did they throw me into the spotlight as the face of anti-doping when it was obvious I was only trying to be treated to be a healthy adult male, not enhance my performance. All I’m trying to do is … I’ve lost my sex drive. It’s at an all-time low. It’s a frustrating deal,” he added.

Barron is the only man to have been suspended under the Tour’s new anti-doping program.

He tested positive for beta blockers and testosterone when playing under a sponsor’s exemption at his hometown St. Jude Classic last June. It was his only PGA Tour start in 2009 and he missed the cut.

Barron contends both drugs were prescribed by his physicians and were necessary. He contends that he was weaning himself off the beta blockers, which he had taken since he was 18 for anxiety caused by a heart condition.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration estimates that four million to five million American men suffer from low testosterone. The condition is also a common side effect of extended steroid use.

The PGA Tour contends that Barron’s testosterone levels were within normal ranges when he first applied for a medical waiver. (ANI)