How far will a golfer in decline go to maintain his family's lifestyle, and why are PGA Tour players who are associated with one equipment manufacturer being killed off? In Out of Bounds, veteran PGA Tour player and reluctant sleuth Jack Austin uncovers some disturbing answers. Austin has built his career on 300-yard tee shots. But as younger, stronger players enter the game, he finds that the pack is catching up. He's not the only player to feel the heat; his middle-aged friend Hal "Hurricane" McCarthy has been struggling to hold on for several seasons. Lately, however, McCarthy and a few other players have enjoyed significant--even mysterious--improvements in their play. Some are hitting the ball farther than they ever have; in McCarthy's case, the famously hot-headed player now exhibits uncharacteristic calm and control in his putting game. At least one golfer, Richie Barter, is convinced that these improvements are the result of performance-enhancing drug use--and he tells his theory to USA Today. As a new member of the PGA Tour Policy Board, Jack finds himself drawn into one of the worst scandals ever to hit the sport. Meanwhile, Jack's best friend, Darcy Perkins, a security consultant for the Tour, is slowly recovering from a recent shooting. Depressed, neglecting his family, and fearing for his job, Perkins asks Jack to travel to Chicago on his behalf to follow up on a police investigation into a golfer's death. The official story is that Ron Scott was the victim of a mugging, but both Perkins and an associate on the Chicago force have their doubts. As Jack tries to help his friend, he finds himself drawn into two investigations that may turn out to be linked.