Scott Stallings suspended after self-admitting to taking banned substance
Three-time PGA Tour winner Scott Stallings will miss the remainder of the 2014-15 PGA Tour season while he serves a three-month suspension doled out under the tour’s anti-doping program.
Stallings self-reported that he had been taking a substance called DHEA, which is akin to a steroid that boosts testosterone production, when he realized it was banned by the tour.
“Whether I intended to or not, I took something that wasn’t allowed. I called a penalty on myself, that’s the best way to look at it,” Stallings said to Golf Channel. “I did it immediately, so much so it took [the Tour official] by surprise.”
Under the tour’s anti-doping program, an admission to taking a banned substance is equal to a positive drug test.
In September 2014, Stallings’ doctor recommended the supplement — with the caveat that it could be a banned substance — because the 30-year-old had felt sluggish and out of energy. Unfortunately for Stallings, he didn’t check the tour’s banned-substance list at the time. He took the substance for two months. He passed a drug test conducted at the Humana Challenge in January. However, after a player meeting at the Farmers Insurance Open in which the drug program was emphasized, Stallings became concerned he may have inadvertently violated the program rules. Once he checked the banned-substance list, he told the tour of his violation on Feb. 10.
The suspension ends Oct. 4, making him eligible to start the 2015-16 PGA Tour season when it kicks off on Oct. 15 at the Frys.com Open. The Tennessee native is exempt for the year on the back of his 2014 Farmers Insurance Open win.
Stallings is the third player formally suspended under the tour’s anti-doping program, which started in 2008. Doug Barron was suspended for a year after testing positive for doctor-prescribed testosterone supplements and Beta blockers. Web.com Tour player Bhavik Patel was issued a one-year suspension for taking an undisclosed banned substance while recovering from an injury; his suspension ends Oct. 5.
Vijay Singh faced sanctions from the tour for admitting to taking a substance called deer-antler spray, which contains a banned substance called IGF-1. However, before the suspension was announced, the tour consulted with the World Anti-Doping Agency and learned the body no longer considers oral ingestion of the substance as a violation, which is how deer-antler spray is used. Singh is suing the tour for its handling of his 2013 case.
Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.
