Golf: PGA Tour imposes 3-month ban on journeyman Brad Fritsch for doping violation

Canadian golfer Brad Fritsch was suspended by the PGA for a doping violation which he reported himself. PHOTO: AFP/GETTY IMAGES

MIAMI (AFP) - Canadian golfer Brad Fritsch has been suspended for three months for a doping violation that he reported himself, the PGA Tour said Monday (Jan 8).

"The PGA Tour announced today that Brad Fritsch has violated the anti-doping policy's ban on the use of performance-enhancing substances and has been suspended for three months," 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 Feb 28, 2018."

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," Fritsch said in the post.

"And in the programme 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 programme. I'm a proud member of the PGA Tour and I don't take that lightly."

Fritsch, 40, played in 18 Tour events in 2017 with his best finish a tie for 29th at the Sanderson Farms Championship.

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