Carolyn Bivens drug testing penalties punish PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem most of all

When the proposed penalties for the LPGA Tour’s new drug testing plan came out over the long holiday weekend, a number of players certainly did a double gulp. After all, 25 tournaments (practically an entire season) for a first positive, 50 tournaments for a second failed test and a lifetime ban for urine issue No. 3 is no joke.

In other words, it’s nothing like most of the steroids plans in pro sports - especially Major League Baseball’s and the NFL’s.

Still even as LPGA veterans like Meg Mallon moaned, you can bet the it was nothing compared to the groaning coming out of PGA Tour headquarters. Commissioner Tim Finchem - who does all things Tiger Woods requests, except curiously, drug test - knows that there is no way the PGA Tour’s penalties will compare.

The Tour will eventually come out with its own drug testing plan after the Finchem-led foot dragging. But it’s a safe bet to be more along the lines of baseball’s system. In other words, a simply cosmetic, toothless PR move.

For a column on how Finchem’s delaying on steroids action has let down regular golf fans, stay tuned to the front of TravelGolf.com> this week.