This Week at WorldGolf.com: Feb. 22, 2005

Jason Giambi took his first cuts at spring training today as a walking petrie dish, "the most obvious juicer in the game," according to Jose Canseco, a self-admitted steroid user according to leaked grand jury testimony. Every move Giambi makes will be analyzed, reanalyzed and then dissected some more in the upcoming months.

This is baseball's new reality, the harsh payback for years of turning an eye so blind that Stevie Wonder would not accept its version of vision.

Well, you know what major sport doesn't have a steroid policy now, let along a testing program? Golf. Go ahead and scoff, say how steroids would never infiltrate the game, how the chemists' magic pills, creams and syringes could never bring a competitor closer to a green jacket. This seems to be the view of PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem, who revealed in recent stories that even if golf ever suspected it had a steroid problem it would rely on an honor system like with all the other rules in the storied sport. This is surely the opinion of Retief Goosen who told The Associated Press, "There is a lot of power involved in golf, but more so feel and touch. I don't know if somebody took steroids how that would affect the game."

Don't listen now, but Finchem and Goosen sound a lot like Bud Selig and Mark McGwire did 10 years ago.

This isn't to suggest that golf will ever be hit by the kind of rampant steroid use that ran through the major leagues. It does show how deep and easy denial runs though. The biggest benefit of the juice is the ability to recover from workouts much quicker, to build mass and fast-twitch muscles much faster. Remember, how major leaguers used to scoff at steroid suggestions, by saying they couldn't help you hit a baseball?

To argue that steroids could have no benefit to the golfer is laughable. This is becoming more and more a game of athletes and as Canseco said on "60 Minutes," "Steroids make a good athlete great and a great athlete superhuman."

Something to think about before laughing off the idea of steroids in golf.

As always your comments are welcome on any topic, including the chance of a performance-enhanced golfer one day dominating the sport.

Ashleigh Simon swings as
South Africa's version of Michelle Wie

Imagine picking a golf club up when you were three years old and finding the game just comes naturally to you. That's what happened with Ashleigh Simon. At the ridiculously tender age of 15, Simon is South Africa's version of Michelle Wie - the Hawaiian-born U.S. teen phenom who not only has already played on the LPGA Tour, but has also had a try with the big boys in the Sony Open last year.
Full story | Try South Africa for a real golf safari

Beauty, history and golf
welcome visitors to Belgium

Belgium, and in particular the southern region of Wallonia, boasts a strong golfing heritage that is only just being uncovered by the game's enthusiasts from around the world. As Brandon Tucker reports, there are plenty of wonderful golf course gems spread across Wallonia and, whatever your golfing fancy, there is no doubt that this picturesque, cultural and gastronomic region of Belgium will exceed your expectations.
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Blog on: No more celebrity golfers

Watching the coverage of both the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic and the Pebble Beach Pro/Am, blogger Matt Paulson truly realized how much he doesn't care about how well celebrities can play golf. "I just don't care," he writes. "And the coverage was nauseating. I like to watch Samuel L. Jackson act. George Lopez' standup is hilarious. Bill Murray: This guy is one of the most brilliant comedians of our generation. But I don't care to watch them play golf."
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