Dan Olsen hasn't played in a PGA Tour event since the 2011 PGA Championship, but that didn't stop him from making some wild — and potentially slanderous — claims on the radio about the real reason Tiger Woods is not currently playing.
Woods has taken time off since he aggravated a back injury at the Northern Trust Open at Torrey Pines, but Olsen went on 730 The Game in Lansing, Michigan on Sunday to offer up a different reason. Olsen said he had a "strong witness" that had told him Woods was serving a month long drug suspension from the PGA Tour.
"It's not testosterone, but it's something else," Olsen told the station. "I think when it's all said and done, he's gonna surpass Lance Armstrong with infamy."
The full audio of the interview can be heard in the above video, and Olsen says all of this with plenty of conviction. Monday, he retracted all of his statements after the PGA Tour and Tiger Woods' agent vehemently denied Olsen's claims, per ESPN.
"Everything I said on that radio interview was only my opinion and not based on any firsthand knowledge or facts," Olsen told ESPN.com. "I want to make a full retraction to everything I said for the entire radio interview, and I apologize to Tiger, Nike, Phil [Mickelson], [commissioner] Tim Finchem and the PGA Tour."
"There is no truth whatsoever to these claims," PGA Tour Executive VP Ty Votaw said to ESPN on Monday. "We categorically deny these allegations."
"These claims are absolutely, unequivocally and completely false," said Woods' agent Mark Steinberg in a statement. "They are unsourced, unverified and completely ridiculous. The PGA Tour has confirmed that there is no truth to these claims."
There have been previous rumors — usually from anonymous sources or players — that Woods used PEDs during his career, but never someone that went on record the way Olsen did. The swift denial of his statement from Woods' agent and the Tour — and even Olsen — was an emphatic approval of Woods from the Tour. We'll see if there's any further fallout from this situation.
