Mar22 LPGAdrugsissue

The LPGA Tour has released the list of substances it will ban when it begins drug testing next year.

The tour said that it will test for 33 anabolic steroids, 29 stimulants and 20 beta-blockers, among other substances. The list is not as comprehensive as the World Anti-Doping Agency’s prohibited list, but LPGA Tour general counsel Jill Pilgrim said the tour wanted to target drugs that would enhance golf performance.

Officials presented the list to the players on Tuesday and world no. 1 Annika Sorenstam is all for the latest moves, stressing: “I think it’s an important statement that we’re making. It’s a new era for the LPGA and we’re standing behind it.”

Meanwhile, Pilgrim added: “The easiest thing would have been to just go ahead and take the WADA list of prohibited substances that the Olympics use. We thought about that and decided that in golf in general, and women’s golf in particular, there’s no sense that there’s a problem per se.

“To me, you have to be responsible about developing a program. You don’t just throw everything at the wall and say, ‘OK, we’re going to ruin your career for testing positive even though we have no proof that it has any impact on the sport.’ That wouldn’t make sense.”

The tour will not test for HGH, which is on WADA’s banned list and has become the latest drug of choice among athletes in other sports. Pilgrim said the tour did not ban HGH because “we don’t have any evidence that HGH is a problem in women’s professional golf.