LICKING your golf ball clean may be more than just an unappealing habit - it can lead to liver disease, an Irish expert has warned.
One golfer who preferred using his tongue to a wet cloth developed hepatitis when he licked strong weedkillers off his ball, Dr Connor Burke of James Connolly Memorial Hospital in Dublin reported.
Writing in the British Medical Association's journal, Gut Dr Burke described the case of a 65-year-old golfer who developed the liver disease even though he was a non-drinker and had no other risk factors for hepatitis.
The patient finally admitted he habitually licked his golf ball clean before teeing off to make it go faster. It turned out that his golf course used the exfoliant agent orange to control weeds.
Once he stopped licking the ball, his symptoms cleared up but came back when, sceptical of the diagnosis, he resumed the licking habit, Dr Burke wrote.
The golfer now carries a damp cloth for ball-cleaning.