Golf Enters the Real World As the Drug Testers Approach the Tee

Professional golf will enter a new era this week when the world's major tours, including the European Tour and the US PGA Tour, will announce the introduction of drug testing at the highest level of the men's game. The move will bring golf into line with other sports and opens up the prospect of the royal and ancient game one day featuring in the Olympics.

Players on the European Tour, where an educational drugs program was introduced last year, will be tested from the start of the 2008 season, although competitors in the United States may be granted a year's grace to allow a similar process of education to take place. Sources said yesterday the PGA Tour was resisting the adoption of the full list of substances proscribed by the World Anti-Doping Agency, including human growth hormone. Testing for HGH is in its infancy and is not regarded as infallible, leading the American authorities to demand its removal from the banned list on the grounds that if it is undetectable there is no point in censoring its use.

Nevertheless, the acceptance of a drugs policy represents a major climbdown for the most powerful man in golf, the PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem, who argued last year there was no evidence of drug use in the sport and cast doubt on whether drugs would improve a golfer's performance. The latter claim has been discredited by numerous experts in the field, who pointed out that the increasing importance of long hitting in the game meant some competitors could be tempted to use substances that might enhance their power, such as steroids and HGH. Meanwhile the former major winner Gary Player claimed at this year's Open Championship at Carnoustie that "at least 10 players and maybe more are on something".

The South African declined to name names and was accused of attention- seeking by several leading players. But it is believed his comments may have hastened agreement between representatives of the European, Asian and PGA Tours who had been negotiating over an anti-doping regime since last summer.

An announcement on the new drugs policy will be made tomorrow in a series of coordinated press conferences around the world, although sources close to the negotiations said last night there remained some sticking points on details, including the complexity involved in managing a golfer's whereabouts should he be required for out-of-competition testing. In November Wada is expected to adopt a strict regime that will require all athletes to provide their whereabouts for one hour a day, seven days a week, to the drug- testing authorities.

Dick Pound, the chairman of Wada, last night welcomed golf's decision to come into line with other sports, although he argued that any anti-doping regime should include a test for HGH which he described as the "drug of choice for anyone who wants to hit the ball far".