Golf’s Bunker Mentality

To preserve its cleancut, countryclub image, the PGA Tour has a strict policy of hiding its dirty laundry, including player drug use. But as the Dustin Johnson case makes clear, that policy is backfiring.

Johnson, one of the Tour’s rising stars, recently announced that he is taking an indefinite leave from competition to get “professional help for personal challenges.” Almost immediately, reports suggested he’d been suspended for drug use.

The PGA Tour won’t confirm this, in line with bylaws keeping suspensions — and the reasons for them — on the QT. So the world speculates. But Johnson’s image and the Tour’s are tarnished nonetheless.

The organization can do itself a favor by taking its head out of the sand trap and learning what other pro sports (baseball, football, hockey, basketball) already know: It makes good sense, in this day and age, to level with the fans who pay their hefty salaries — not least, because drug use and suspensions are hard to keep secret.

Bad publicity for a suspended player, moreover, can serve as a strong incentive for others to keep clean. And don’t cry for top players who lose corporate sponsorships when bad news gets out. These guys, after all, can rake in millions — and then retire with pensions that not even Long Island Rail Road workers can match.

The PGA Tour needs to join the 21st century and dump the rules that keep dirty secrets within the club. Far from protecting the organization’s image, these rules only make Commissioner Tim Finchem look like he’s running a coverup.