AMERICAN DOUG Barron has been suspended for a year by the USPGA Tour after committing a doping offence. The 40-year-old becomes the first player to be banned under the tour’s anti-doping programme.

Barron, whose career has been in decline, has won over €2.5 million, but has recently been playing mostly on the Nationwide Tour.

The USPGA Tour have not announced details of Barron’s case beyond stating he violated policy on the use of performance-enhancing substances.

He stressed he had no intention of cheating the system.

“I would like to apologise for any negative perception of the tour or its players resulting from my suspension,” Barron said. “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 USPGA Tour did not name the drug involved.

Barron, who turned professional in 1992, has played eight full seasons on the US PGA Tour, most recently in 2006. His best finish was a tie for third at the 2005 Bryon Nelson Championship.

In the USPGA Tour’s media guide, Barron lists his biggest thrill in golf as being paired with former world number one Fred Couples and fellow American Craig Stadler for the final round of his first event on the 1997 tour.

The tour launched its anti-doping programme in July last year and said, in the event of a positive doping test, it would disclose details only after the entire appeals and challenges process was completed.

The variety of sanctions could include disqualification, a one-year suspension for a first violation, up to five years for a second violation and a lifetime ban for multiple violations, plus fines up to €350,000.

The US National Center for Drug Free Sport administers testing on the tour virtually every week of the season, with all samples analysed by Wada-accredited laboratories.