Rumor Central: Tiger Woods took HGH?

From Andrew • June 30, 2010

Nobody is saying Tiger Woods has taken human growth hormone, but the question must be asked after Woods was interviewed today by federal authorities about Dr. Anthony Galea, who is accused of distributing HGH.

Galea has been been charged by Canadian authorities for conspiracy, smuggling, distributing human growth hormone and introducing an unapproved drug into interstate commerce.

Back in April, Alex Rodriguez (an admitted steroid user) was also interviewed regarding Galea, but stated he did not receive any drugs from the doctor. Dr. Galea has worked with athletes from Major League Baseball, the NFL and PGA Tour, with such clients as Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran, to name a few.

"Tiger willingly spoke to the authorities and cooperated fully," said Woods' agent, Mark Steinberg. "It was confirmed that because he did nothing illegal, he is not the subject of any criminal investigation. Because there is an ongoing investigation involving others, there will be no further comment."

Tiger's agents insisted that "there was never anything that went into Tiger Woods' body that didn't come out of his body."

Woods apparently received treatment from Galea on four or five different occasions. Hank Haney, Woods' former swing coach, was also at these treatments and has stated that Tiger did not receive any illegal substances.

However, Steinberg's cryptic statement of "there was never anything that went into Tiger Woods' body that didn't come out of his body," is open to interpretation. Just what has Tiger taken in the past? It is no secret that Tiger's body has grown larger the last couple of years. In fact, I would say he's one of the better built golfers on the PGA Tour.

Was this a result of a natural body building process? Or rather, did Tiger take something that he shouldn't have taken? It is likely these questions will never be answered. The fact that Tiger has received treatment from a known distributor of HGH, doesn't look good. But that doesn't mean he should be guilty by association.

As fans, we must trust that Woods has taken the right steps, over the course of his career, to make him a better athlete. Whether that was taking HGH or any other drug as a result, is yet to be seen.

But as he's shown us, there's a lot more to Tiger than meets the eye. And that will always leave us wondering.

**You can reach the author of this post at gazzy@gacksports.com

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