Norman blasts golf drug testing

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This article was published 29/04/2013 (4852 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

SYDNEY, Australia — Greg Norman described golf’s anti-doping procedures as “disgraceful” and called for blood testing to be instituted by the sport’s governing bodies.

“You only have to look at what happened to Vijay Singh just recently to know the drugs issue is there,” Norman told The Australian newspaper in comments published Monday.

Singh acknowledged in a magazine interview in January that he’d used deer antler spray, which contains a muscle-building hormone banned by the PGA Tour. It can be detected only by blood tests.

“How deep it is (the problem), I have no idea because we only do urine analysis instead of blood testing,” Norman said. “If you really want to be serious about it and find about what’s really going on, we need to do blood testing. I think it’s disgraceful, to tell you the truth. The golf associations have to get together and step it up.

“It’s a pin prick for a player and you find out what’s going on. If you’re the head of golf or any sport, if you’re the commissioner for a sport, it’s your responsibility to make sure your sport is clean … that should be your No. 1 priority.”

The Aussie golf great was back in his home country this weekend for his golf-course design work.

“Any sportsman or sportswoman who uses an outside agency to improve their skills is cheating,” Norman said. “It sickens me. They’re putting a black eye on their sport.”

— The Associated Press