Potential Olympic golfers now fall under more rigorous drug-testing program
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Potential Olympic golfers now fall under more rigorous drug-testing program

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Pro golfers who have a chance of qualifying for one of the two Olympic golf tournaments in Brazil in August will now be subject to a more stringent drug-testing program than they contend with inside the sport.

The 120 players -- 60 men and 60 women -- who are currently qualified for the men's and women's tournaments in Rio now enter the Olympic drug-testing pool.

With that comes the possibility of blood testing for performance-enhancement drugs and other banned substances, which no major golf tour does as part of its anti-doping program.

The currently qualified players also now have to tell the Olympic drug-testing arm of their whereabouts on non-competition days through an online system, detailing where they will be spending their nights, their routine activities (such as training) and offering a one-hour window each day between 6 a.m. - 11 p.m. where they could be tested outside of competition. The players will do this using a smartphone or Web app connected to a system dubbed ADAMS (Anti-Doping Administration & Management System), which is managed by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). On the PGA Tour, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency or the non-profit Drug Free Sport will conduct the testing. Players will be tested for the full WADA list of banned substances.

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Players who have entered the Olympic pool must remain in the pool -- even if they fall off the list of 120 qualifiers -- until the July 11 deadline to set the two tournament fields. Any player who replaces another on the qualified list each week also enters the testing program until the qualifying deadline.

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Ryan Ballengee

Ryan Ballengee is the founder, owner and operator of Golf News Net.

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