INQUIRER Sports

SHANGHAI-- Tiger Woods on Wednesday said it was unfortunate that US PGA Tour player Doug Barron had tested positive for drugs, but Phil Mickelson claimed it could all be a mistake.

Barron, an American with only one PGA start in three years, was given a one-year ban on Monday by the US PGA Tour, tarnishing golf's proud reputation as a drug-free sport.

It was golf's first suspension for performance-enhancing substances.

The PGA, which instituted its anti-doping policy in July last year, imposed the penalty immediately without comment other than announcing the punishment.

"I just heard about it today," said Woods, who is in Shanghai for the WGC-HSBC Champions.

"Unfortunate, but that's also one of the reasons why we have the policy, to make sure that no one does anything that's improper for the game of golf, and it's great that we have the policy in place."

The exact banned substance Barron was found to have taken was not revealed. "The whole idea is to keep our sport clean," Woods added.

"That's the whole idea and that's why we created the policy, and it's been executed and unfortunately one player didn't obey the policy."

However, world number two Mickelson suggested it could be a mistake.

"I don't know the details. I know we've all been tested numerous times in the last 18 months," he said.

"I would venture to say there was some sort of mix up, just knowing golf players would not do something intentionally to break the rules.

"I never really thought of Doug as the Arnold Schwarzenegger-type body. I'm just guessing, but there's probably some sort of confusion."

The best career finish for Barron in a PGA event was third in the 2005 Byron Nelson Championship. He played 24 events that year and 28 in 2006.

He said sorry for bringing the game into disrepute.

"I would like to apologize for any negative perception of the tour or its players resulting from my suspension," Barron said in a statement released by the PGA.

"I want my fellow tour members and the fans to know that I did not intend to gain an unfair competitive advantage or enhance my performance while on tour."

The issue of doping in golf first gained prominence when the legendary Gary Player claimed ahead of the 2007 British Open that 10 or more of the world's leading players could be using performance-enhancing drugs.

He produced no evidence, but golf's global governing bodies announced soon after that they would adopt a drug-test program starting in 2008.