Basketball Betting

Golf Tidbits: Should we believe Finchem?

Golf Betting Lines

07/02/2009 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem met the media on Wednesday at Congressional Country Club, site of this week's AT&T National, and discussed many subjects.

The biggest topic was drug testing. Finchem announced that one year into testing, the PGA Tour is clean.

"The players took it very seriously. They got educated," Finchem stated. "We've had over 1,000 tests in the last year. The testing processes worked extremely well. The players have cooperated."

Though who gets tested is anonymous unless a player talks about it, one could gather that every PGA Tour player has been tested. If you combine the 2008 and 2009 money lists, there are over 500 names but many are duplicates.

The drug tests screen for a variety of drugs, but suspensions would only have been handed down for performance-enhancing drugs. A failed test for a recreational drug such as cocaine or marijuana would not result in a suspension.

"I said we have had no positive tests with respect to performance-enhancing," Finchem said. "We may have had some test results that trouble us in other areas that we treat in a different bucket. But we don't publicize those. We treat those as 'conduct unbecoming.' I'm not saying this has happened or not."

Should we believe Finchem that the tour is clean? I think you can read between the lines of Finchem's quote and know that the answer is no, the tour isn't clean.

Obviously, as he states, there were no failed tests for PED's. But the gray area for the tour, the players and the media alike is those who may have failed tests for recreational drugs. It is easy to see why those names and results would not be published.

If someone were to fail a test, that person obviously used illegal drugs. Charges could be filed, though just as it is with any member of the public, authorities would have a tough time charging said player though as it would be tough to prove in which jurisdiction the person may have taken or possessed the drugs.

Finchem said the testing process has gone from random to selective. If a player hadn't been chosen randomly, the tour would then choose that player for testing. Under the current system, the tour has shifted to regular testing.

"We have reason to believe that a player may be using an illegal substance or may have a substance problem and he's in a program and we want to test him, we just test him on a regular basis," said Finchem.

"You've got to play by the rules."

Whether players are truly playing by those rules is open to your own interpretation of Finchem's comments.

BOOM OR BUST FOR GLOVER?

Lucas Glover followed his first major championship win with a share of 11th place last week at the Travelers Championship. It's hard to say based on that result whether the U.S. Open victory launched Glover's career, or launched a drought.

Since Tiger Woods burst onto the scene at the 1997 Masters, there have been seven multiple major winners and 19 others that have won a single major title. Three of those 19 had won major titles before Woods turned professional.

Some of those 19 winners have seen their careers go into a tailspin after their major championship victory. David Duval's plummet in the world rankings is well documented, though part of that was injury-related.

Since 2002, three major winners have not won another event, four if you include Glover, who is playing this week for the second time since winning the U.S. Open.

Rich Beem (2002 PGA Championship), Shaun Micheel (2003 PGA Championship) and Trevor Immelman (2008 Masters) are winless since claiming those major victories.

Glover, like Immelman, is young and is still gathering experience. But neither would he fall into the flash-in-the-pan category, as the win was his second on the PGA Tour and he has also played on a Presidents Cup team.

It is too early to tell which direction Glover's career will go, but there are indications based on a solid follow-up performance that his first major championship win could be the first of many.

MINI-TIDBITS

- There are more financial woes on the horizon for the LPGA Tour. This week's 25th Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic may be the last and the organizers of the two-year-old Kapalua LPGA Classic have pulled out of their contract with financial problems.

- No surprise that Tiger Woods topped the list of highest-earning American athletes with nearly $100 million earned last year. Phil Mickelson at No. 2 is a mild surprise, and Jim Furyk's name also made the top 50 at the No. 41 spot.

Pacific-10 Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Stanford

Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.

Should be in:

Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.

Southeastern Conference odds

Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it. Work left to do: Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney. Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson. Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable. Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile.

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