Dustin Johnson Suspended From The PGA

I am not a golfer and it is one of the sports that I least enjoy watching. However, it does occasionally supply an interesting legal controversy. Pro golfer Dustin Johnson this week is taking a leave of absence from the PGA tour (the Washington Post is calling it a suspension). The reason is intriguing. He failed three drug tests and allegedly has been sleeping with the wives of other players. The drug tests however were reportedly for marijuana and cocaine. Since those are not performance enhancing drugs, I do not understand why the PGA even tests for them or why Johnson being a cad is an issue for the PGA.

Johnson failed three drug tests in the past five years, including a positive test for marijuana in 2009 and two positive tests for cocaine in 2012 and 2014. However, I know of no study showing that such drugs give him an advantage on the course. Moreover, he does not play for a team where his conduct has a material impact on teammates. Golf is a singular pursuit of athletes. Likewise, why does it matter that Johnson “had a sexual indiscretion with at least one wife of a PGA Tour player.” Isn’t that a matter between Johnson and the married couple?

I do not understand why golfers are treated as representing the PGA, which is just the umbrella organization for these games.

Johnson, 30, will miss the PGA Championship this coming weekend. That will honestly have no impact on me since I would rather drink molten lead than watch the PGA Championship. However, I remain confused as to why these particular acts are material in whether he will appear.

Source: Washington Post