McIlroy blasts golf ’s drug testing
Rory McIlroy is nothing if not brutally honest.
The world No. 4, looking to win his second Claret Jug this week and fifth major championship at Royal Troon in the 145th British Open, didn’t hold back Tuesday when criticizing the sport’s drug testing.
McIlroy said golf needed to toughen its drug testing procedures to be viewed as a mainstream sport. He said blood tests should be administered if golf wanted to “get in line with the other sports that test more rigorously.”
He went as far as to say he could use human growth hormone and get away with it.
“I don’t really know of any drug that can give you an advantage all the way across the board. There are obviously drugs that can make you stronger. There are drugs that can help your concentration. But whether there’s something out there where it can make you an overall better player, I’m not sure,” said McIlroy, who added he got drug tested about six times a year.
“Physically, obviously, you can get stronger, recover faster. So, I mean, for example, HGH ... you can’t really pick it up in a urine test. I could use HGH and get away with it. So I think blood testing is something that needs to happen in golf just to make sure that it is a clean sport going forward. ... Whether it be coming to their houses and doing blood and urine, I think drug testing in golf is still quite far behind some of the other sports.”
Players who were potentially going to Rio de Janeiro were placed in an Olympic pool in May for more stringent drug testing, where players are required to provide their whereabouts for out-ofcompetition testing and blood tests are administered. The process was developed by the International Golf Federation and the World Anti-Doping Agency.