World Golf Foundation Announces New Drug Testing Program

The PGA Tour, joined by the heads of the LPGA, Augusta National, R&A, USGA, European Tour and PGA of America, have agreed to an anti-doping policy that includes ten banned categories of substances or doping methods. The following is the “Model Prohibited Substances & Methods List.”

NOT FULL WADA LIST: This does not represent the full list of substances banned by WADA. PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem said some substances were left off because of high administrative costs to test for them and because they do not impact golf performance. WADA Chair Dick Pound, in a conference call with reporters, expressed disappointment that the entire list was not banned (Jon Show, SportsBusiness Journal). However, WADA member Dr. Gary Wadler said that the inclusion of hormones “could be interpreted as testing for [HGH].” Wadler: “It sounds to me as if they should not try to reinvent the wheel when that wheel has already been invented, so it sounds as if they used [WADA’s] prohibited list as a guide, and that’s good” (L.A. TIMES, 9/21).

Finchem Estimates Drug Policy Will Cost PGA Tour $1-1.5M Annually

FEW DETAILS AVAILABLE: USA TODAY’s Jerry Potter reports PGA Tour Policy Board member Joe Ogilvie expects the Tour “to begin testing in June, but he hasn’t been told any details on how the tests will be conducted or what the penalties will be.” More information should become available when the Tour’s Player Advisory Council meets in three weeks, and Ogilvie expects the program to be presented to the board in November. Ogilvie said, “I doubt we’d do a lifetime ban, but I could see us doing a couple of years. I support as strong a penalty as possible” (USA TODAY, 9/21).

REAX: ESPN.com’s Bob Harig wrote, “While you get the feeling golf’s leaders still feel a reluctance to do this, that there is no drug problem in the game ... this is an overdue-but-welcomed step, nonetheless. With all the issues concerning performance-enhancing supplements that have plagued other sports, why even take a chance?” (ESPN.com, 9/20). In Philadelphia, Joe Logan writes, “I didn’t know whether to stand up and cheer [the announcement] or sit down and cry.” While it is “about time” golf has a drug policy, it is an indication of “the ‘realities’ upon us” (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 9/21).

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