On Tuesday, Scott Stallings became the third player the PGA Tour has suspended for breaching its anti-doping policy.
Golf gets scandalous with a PED suspension and a cheating caddie on the same day
Scott Stallings turns himself in to the PGA Tour for inadvertently using a banned substance and the USGA bans a veteran caddie from this week’s major for taking photos of possible pin locations at U.S. Women’s Open.
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Stallings, the first tournament winner punished for using an illicit medication since the circuit implemented its drug policy in 2008, turned himself in, in February, after discovering he had mistakenly taken a supplement on the banned list.
“I regret my inadvertent mistake in not doing my homework to know for sure what was on the list of permitted and non-permitted substances,” Stallings, who will be eligible for reinstatement on Oct. 7, 2015, said in a statement. “I take responsibility and accept the penalty imposed by the PGA Tour.”
The irony of the Stallings PED suspension? He was on them when he was drug tested by the tour at the Humana. The test came back clean! #OOPS
— Michael Collins (@ESPNCaddie) July 7, 2015 The three-time tour winner said his doctor recommended he take the substance (DHEA, an anabolic agent, according to GolfChannel.com’s Rex Hoggard) for chronic fatigue.
“Mr. Stallings self-reported this information after discovering that a supplement that he was taking was on the prohibited list,” the tour said in a statement.
In the meantime, over on the women’s side, Rookie of the Year candidate Sei Young Kim will try to add a third LPGA Tour victory and her first major title with a new looper on her bag, after the USGA on Tuesday disqualified veteran caddie Paul Fusco for cheating.
USGA officials, according to multiple sources, found Fusco in an unauthorized area using a cell phone to take photos of an official form with potential pin locations and course setup details for this week’s U.S. Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club. He was promptly ejected him from the course.
Fusco removal buzz on range, fellow caddies unhappy: "It makes us all look bad," one says. "If it's true, it's cheating," says another
— Randall Mell (@RandallMellGC) July 7, 2015 Fusco was on the bag for several of Vijay Singh’s PGA Tour wins, according to Golfweek. He has been Kim’s caddie since December.
