Imagine Tim Finchem and the suits at the PGA Tour implying it was okay to use “social drugs.” That’s a picture that refuses to form in the brain.

Peter Dawson, the Secretary of the Royal and Ancient, the organization who makes the golf rules for all of those unlucky enough to live outside the U.S. and Mexico, was discussing official drug-testing policy with European golf writer John Huggan.

“I hope to see confirmation that drug taking is not part of golf,” Dawson said. “And I very much hope that if someone is caught, that we can differentiate between performance-enhancing and social drug taking,” Dawson said. “There is no reason to suppose that golfers are any different from anyone else, in that respect at least.”

It’s hard to envision Finchem allowing anyone other than Tiger Woods to smoke a fat one and getting away with it.

On the other hand, Finchem, who has been consistently naïve about drugs in golf and still believes his sport doesn’t need drug-testing, concedes that with all the steroid controversies swirling around other major sports – baseball is the obvious example – the public is deservedly skeptical.

“The growing perception by fans generally of sports, that athletes in sports do stuff, is on the ascension,” Finchem told the Desert Sun newspaper. “There’s no question it’s different than it was a year ago, it’s very different than it was two years ago. More things that come out in other sports drive that. So when you come behind that with rumor and innuendo, it can change the perception of your sport.”

Note to Finchem: Golf is no different than baseball. Strength and endurance are keys in both sports, both with millions of dollars are at stake. In addition, golf doesn’t have multi-year, guaranteed contracts, so there’s actually more pressure to perform.

Actually, a steroid scandal in golf wouldn’t exactly stun me. An expose outlining dope-smoking would.

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