John Daly calls PGA Tour's anti-doping program a 'joke' on SiriusXM show
PGA Tour

John Daly calls PGA Tour’s anti-doping program a ‘joke’ on SiriusXM show

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John Daly is convinced he'll have to hand over a scorecard and a urine sample on Friday at the Valspar Championship.

On his SiriusXM radio show, "Hit It Hard with John Daly," on Tuesday, Daly told host Patrick Meagher that he does not believe the Tour's drug-testing program is random.

"I'm gonna play at 1:50 on Friday so they're [going to] get me about 6:52, 7 o'clock," Daly said, according to ESPN.com. The two-time major winner is referring to officials with the PGA Tour's anti-doping program.

"Oh yeah, this'll be the fifth or sixth year in a row I'm going to get drug tested [at this event]," Daly added. "It's the biggest bulls***. I'm sorry. I'm gonna say it; fine me. I don't care what you do, fix 'em right now, fine me, but I'm tired of it. It's not random; it's big a joke. This whole drug testing is a joke."

Daly said his peers know when they'll be tested, too.

"I know when I'm getting drug tested," he said. "That's sad. They all know when we're getting drug tested. And for you dopers and all that s*** on the PGA Tour, you know you're getting drug tested, you got it made! You got it made! And I'm tired of it."

Daly called on PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem and chief of operations Andy Pazder to "fix" the issue.

The Tour responded on Wednesday afternoon saying, in a statement, that its testing is “both random and selective,” and that, “contrary to his assertions, John Daly has never been targeted for testing and his claim that players know when they will be tested is simply not true.”

However, the Tour's drug-testing program has been the subject of broader scrutiny and legal action.

Vijay Singh is currently suing the PGA Tour over their handling of his case when he admitted in a January 2013 Sports Illustrated piece that he took deer-antler spray, which contains, IGF-1, a substance banned under the Tour's program. Singh's admission was tantamount to a positive test. However, before the PGA Tour levied a six-month suspension on Singh, it consulted with the World Anti-Doping Agency, which told the Tour it only considered the direct injection of IGF-1 into the blood stream to warrant a suspension.

In July 2014, Dustin Johnson took a six-month "leave of absence" from the PGA Tour which ended with his return at the 2015 Farmers Insurance Open. Johnson admitted to "personal challenges" but remained otherwise vague as to the reason for the leave of absence. Golf.com reported last summer that Johnson had been suspended for six months by the Tour after testing positive for cocaine. The Tour denied that charge. However, under the anti-doping program's rules, commissioner Finchem can choose not to suspend any player who tests positive for a banned substance under the Tour's anti-doping program, and, in cases of "drugs of abuse," can require rehabilitation in lieu of a suspension or fine. Last week at the WGC-Cadillac Championship, Finchem contended fans aren't interested in increased transparency related to fines and suspensions.

The World Anti-Doping Agency has also been recently critical of the Tour's program, which only collects urine samples from players. The Tour is unable to test for banned substances like human growth hormone (HGH) without taking a blood sample. A Tour official responded to the charges, saying taking the small sample from players could inhibit their on-course performance.

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Ryan Ballengee

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