The PGA Tour and Tiger Woods’ agent have denied that the former world number one is sidelined by a doping sanction. Dan Olsen, a player who has not played in an American Tour tournament since 2011, said Friday on a Michigan radio station that “a witness, a credible person” had told him Woods was suspended by the PGA for a month for doping. “When it’s all told, (Woods) is going to surpass Lance Armstrong in infamy,” U.S. media quoted Olsen, 48, as saying on the radio. Armstrong was stripped of his seven Tour de France cycling titles and suspended for life from cycling after it was shown that he used banned substances throughout his career.
Mark Steinberg, Woods’ agent, sent a statement to Golf Channel denying the allegations: “They are absolutely, unequivocally and completely false. They are unsourced, unverified and completely ridiculous. The PGA Tour has already confirmed that there is no truth to these allegations.” “The PGA categorically denies those allegations,” the circuit said in a statement.
Woods had a bad start to the year after a 2014 full of physical problems and during which he underwent back surgery. In his first tournament of 2015, in Phoenix, he missed the cut and signed the worst card of his professional career with 82 strokes. He then withdrew from the Torrey Pines tournament due to back discomfort.
On February 11, he announced that he was taking an indefinite break until his game was good enough to compete again. Woods, champion of 14 majors, has not won a major since 2008 and it is not known if he will play the Masters at Augusta in April.
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