Player ignorance only concern for Finchem over drug testing

SAN DIEGO, California: The PGA Tour's first anti-doping program starts in July and Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem's only fear is that a player might test positive through ignorance.

"Given the history of the players and the rules, I don't have a big concern about a player intentionally taking a step to violate one of these rules," Finchem told a news conference on Wednesday.

"My bigger concern is players making mistakes and allowing things to get into their bodies that will trigger a positive response. That gets us into the whole realm of was it intentional and how did the substance get into the body.

"The testing process doesn't know how it gets into your body; all it knows is it's in your body," added Finchem, speaking on the eve of this week's Buick Invitational. "So that part of it we need to work on pretty hard.

"I think it's going to be difficult for players and I think it's going to be difficult for all of us as we get into that arena. But this is part of the world of sports today. It's a reality and it unfortunately can't be avoided."

Four months ago, the PGA Tour and other leading golf organizations outlined a comprehensive global anti-doping policy for the sport that included a list of banned substances.

Player education and outreach began last month on the PGA Tour and the range of penalties for positive tests includes a one-year suspension for a first violation and a lifetime ban for multiple offenses.

"This is all new and there's a lot to learn about the process involved, about the substances," Finchem said. "That's why we set the date for July to give ourselves a full half a year. We're going to be very intense about it."

Paying attention

"We have six months to get players up to speed and, as we go through that process, we're not limiting the effort to players. We're talking trainers, we're talking agents, we're talking business managers, so everybody is paying attention."

Although golf appears to be unaffected by performance-enhancing drugs, there have been widespread calls for the governing bodies to put testing policies in place.

World No 1 Tiger Woods said two years ago he thought the use of performance-enhancing drugs could become a problem and encouraged a proactive stance instead of a reactive one.

After attending one of two mandatory player meetings at Torrey Pines on Tuesday, he described the Tour's new anti-doping policy as overall "fantastic".

The only slight concern for Woods and several of his peers is how the therapeutic use exemption (TUE) will apply on professional tours outside the US.

"When we go to Europe, we have to obviously ask for a TUE before we go over," the 13-time major winner said.

"That's going to be the most difficult thing for players who play on our Tour full-time and then go over and play in Europe or Asia or South Africa where the testing is a little bit different.

"What is considered a positive test and what is considered not? As players, we're trying to ask a lot of clarification. We still don't know all of it because we're still trying to figure it out."

Agencies

(China Daily 01/25/2008 page22)