Pro golfer’s on-course ‘overdose’ shines a light on popular supplement

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00:00PGA Tour golfer Ben Griffin is having a fantastic season, earning his first two PGA wins earlier this year.

00:07But his overdose over the weekend at the BMW Championship is making all the headlines.

00:13Unfortunately, it may have cost him a spot on the prestigious U.S. Ryder Cup team.

00:20Griffin was hoping to shoot a low score Sunday in the final round to automatically qualify for that Ryder Cup.

00:26Instead, his round got off to a terrible start because he took what he described as a rock of creatine.

00:33Griffin had taken the supplement on the course before, but this time it didn't go as planned.

00:38Griffin described the ordeal after his round.

00:41I started taking it after my second shot and I accidentally swallowed one of the big rocks that was in my water bottle.

00:47And I've never overdosed on creatine before, but I think I did in the moment because I didn't really drink any water after that.

00:57I basically just inhaled a snowball.

00:59So I started getting super shaky and I've never felt like this before and I literally felt like I had tremors.

01:06And I four putted one and then on two I was freaking out and didn't know what to do and I hit it so far out of bounds.

01:13Griffin was six over after the first three holes and considered withdrawing from the tournament.

01:19But his symptoms started to subside with some help from his caddy.

01:23Luckily, my caddy stepped in and made me chug a hole water and honestly try to calm down a little bit.

01:29And then I hit the other one in play and then I was fine.

01:32I ended up making whatever, a double on that hole and I bogeyed the next hole.

01:36Honestly, it was probably more just a little bit flustered, but I was fine, honestly, after the second shot on two.

01:41And then it was, I felt good.

01:43And so I went about my day and got it back to under par.

01:46Griffin said he takes 15 milligrams of creatine daily and it is a popular supplement on tour.

01:52Masters champion Rory McIlroy has also talked about its benefits.

01:56It's produced by the body naturally and is not a banned substance.

02:01The U.S. anti-doping agency says the supplement can help with energy, workout recovery, and can reduce mental fatigue.

02:08The benefits are dependent on the right training and usage, which Griffin learned the hard way.

02:14I was actually very confident going into the round.

02:16It just kind of happened and it's unfortunate.

02:20But yeah, it was a weird feeling.

02:22Like I honestly, I got to the fourth, whatever, the third tee box and I was like, well, I'm fine.

02:27Let's just pretend like that didn't happen.

02:29The 29-year-old from North Carolina had seven birdies in the last 15 holes to finish his round under par.

02:35He said he'll continue to take creatine just a little more carefully in the future.

02:40This weekend, he'll play in the season-ending tour championship,

02:43hoping he plays well enough that Keegan Bradley sees fit to make him a Ryder Cup captain's pick.

02:50For Straight Arrow News, I'm Chris Francis.