Scott Stallings returned to the PGA Tour this week in the Frys.com Open after serving a three-month suspension for a drug violation.
The 30-year-old Stallings, who has won three times on the PGA Tour including the 2014 Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines, admitted taking an over-the-counter supplement, DHEA, for fatigue. The anabolic agent is a precursor to testosterone production and is banned by the PGA Tour.
Many medical experts say DHEA has no performance benefit when taken orally, and Stallings never failed a drug test while taking the substance.
“Hopefully (his situation) will create some type of transparency between the Tour and the players,” Stallings told GolfChannel.com. “I hope what happened to me doesn’t happen to anyone else.
“Understanding the policy and agreeing with it are two different things, but I should have checked. Hopefully it makes guys more aware to what is going on.”
Stallings said he took, and passed, two drug tests while taking the supplement, and essentially turned himself in for the violation when he realized he might have violated the policy.
Eventually, a doctor at UCLA diagnosed Stallings with an acute case of sleep apnea that allowed him to get only about 15 minutes of REM sleep a night.
On July 28, he underwent throat surgery in Knoxville, Tenn., to repair a deviated septum as well as other soft palate repairs.
“They basically cut out an opening in my throat,” Stallings said of the 45-minute procedure. “It felt like you swallowed acid coated nails.”
However, it solved the problem.
In his first event back, Stallings shot 72-75–147 and missed the cut by five strokes at Silverado Country Club in Napa.
