Dustin Johnson was reportedly selected for random drug testing at the Ryder Cup.GETTY IMAGES
Players from both the Europe and U.S. Ryder Cup teams were "subject to unannounced drug testing three days before the matches began" at Le Golf National near Paris last month, according to David Walsh of the LONDON TIMES. It is believed that four players from each team "were randomly selected and requested to provided urine samples" by officials from the French Anti-Doping Agency (AFLD), who were "supported by police officers." Few believe that performance-enhancing drugs are "a problem in golf" but many within the game "feel there is not enough testing." Two years ago at the Open Championship, Rory McIlroy complained about the "level of scrutiny within the sport." He said, "I could use HGH [human growth hormone] and get away with it." Though golf is now on the Olympic schedule and its athletes are "subject to the same anti-doping laws as every other Olympic sport," the PGA of America has been "slow to embrace the need for transparency" in how it implements its anti-doping policy. On the Tuesday before the Ryder Cup, AFLD's testers "turned up" at the Trianon Palace Hotel near Versailles where both teams were playing and requested urine samples from selected players. It is believed the U.S. golfers were "uncertain if they were obliged to comply" but "after some to-ing and fro-ing and insistence from the French authorities, they agreed." According to sources, Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson and Tiger Woods were the four U.S. golfers randomly selected for testing (LONDON TIMES, 10/7).
