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Manotick golfer Brad Fritsch suspended 3 months after self-reporting anti-doping violation

The Canadian Press Published Monday, January 8, 2018 7:14PM EST

Brad Fritsch, of Canada, lines up a putt on the first green during the final round of the Wyndham Championship golf tournament in Greensboro, N.C., Sunday, Aug. 17, 2014. (Gerry Broome/AP Photo)

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The PGA has suspended Canadian golfer Brad Fritsch three months for violating its anti-doping policy.

The PGA said in a release Monday that Fritsch self-reported the violation after discovering an ingredient in a supplement he was taking was on the Tour's list of prohibited substances.

The suspension is retroactive to Nov. 30, when Fritsch reported the violation. Fritsch, from Manotick, is eligible to return to the Tour on Feb. 28.

Fritsch said in a Facebook post that the banned substance, a hormone called dehydroepiandrosterone, was in a weight-loss supplement he was taking.

"I'm just so upset with myself that I didn't think to question what was in the supplements. But I never did," Fritsch said in the post. "And in the program rules, it stipulates that a self-report is the same as a positive test. I did know this when I sent the text to (PGA vice-president) Andy Levinson.

"I believe in the program. I'm a proud member of the PGA Tour and I don't take that lightly."