PGA Tour suspends Fritsch for doping violation

Canadian golfer Brad Fritsch. – Photo media.net

MIAMI — Canadian golfer Brad Fritsch has been suspended for three months for a doping violation that he reported himself to the US PGA Tour, the tour said on Monday.

"The PGA TOUR announced today that Brad Fritsch has violated the PGA Tour Anti-Doping Policy’s ban on the use of performance-enhancing substances and has been suspended for three months,"大众the tour said in a statement from its Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, headquarters.

"Mr. Fritsch self-reported this information after discovering that an ingredient in a supplement that he was taking was on the prohibited list.

"He has acknowledged his inadvertent error and accepted his suspension. He will be eligible to return on February  二 八,  二0 一 八."

Fritsch said in a Facebook post that the banned substance, dehydroepiandrosterone, was in a weight-loss supplement he was taking.

"I’m just so upset with myself that I didn’t think to question what was in the supplements. But I never did,"大众Fritsch said in the post. "And in the program rules, it stipulates that a self-report is the same as a positive test.

I did know this when I sent the text to (PGA vice-president) Andy Levinson.

"I believe in the progra妹妹e. I’m a proud member of the PGA Tour and I don’t take that lightly."

Fritsch,  四0, played in  一 八 tour events in  二0 一 七 with his best finish a tie for  二 九th at the Sanderson Farms Championship. — AFP