Doug Barron, 1st player suspended under PGA doping policy, files suit to lift 1-year ban

Attorney: Barron files suit to stop PGA suspension

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

Attorneys 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 Saturday.

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, an automatic entry, into the tournament.

Attorney 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 ten 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, attorneys 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.

Young said a committee of doctors denied Barron’s request for a therapeutic exemption in January of 2009. Barron’s natural testosterone level, Young said, was within the normal range.

“He was told very clearly, ‘You are not to use testosterone.’ To get ready for the St. Jude Classic he got a shot,” Young said.

Young said Barron’s appeal on the beta-blocker was also denied. The presence of either drug would have resulted in a suspension.

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