'What would they have done? Suspend her retirement?'

Annika Sorenstam drug-tested after
her farewell round on LPGA Tour

FROM THE TIMESONLINE WEBSITE
By PETER DIXON
Annika Sorenstam joined the LPGA Tour in the United States in 1994 and went on to win 72 times, picking up 10 major championships along the way and 17 other victories worldwide. Put simply, she is one of the best players, male or female, to have graced the game.
How sad, then, that her final event on American soil before retirement should end on a sour note. Playing at the ADT Championship, in Florida, last week, Sorenstam not only missed the cut, but was then asked to provide a sample for a drugs test. This was not, you might say, the fond farewell envisaged by the former world No.1 and her band of admirers.
Needless to say, righteous indignation became the order of the day. With barely concealed contempt, Sorenstam complained that she had been tested two weeks earlier and had been stunned to be told as she walked off the 18th green that she was about to be tested again. At the time, she was surrounded by friends and family and was trying to soak up the moment.
"I would have been fine if they had done it yesterday, not tell me when I was walking off the 18th green of my last tournament (in the States) and trying to enjoy the moment with my family," Sorenstam said.
With heavy irony, it was put to her that perhaps the authorities hadn't heard that she was retiring. "I have no idea, but they're not going to let me go," she said. "I guess you get tested every other week now."
In a piece criticising the decision, one reporter wrote: "Even for an organization known for making head-shaking decisions over the years, this ranks at the bottom of the latrine in terms of asinine, idiotic developments. After 15 memorable seasons in which she often carried the (LPGA) tour on her capable back, Sorenstam isn't playing next year, making the whole testing issue decidedly moot."
Another stated simply: "What were they going to do if she failed? Suspend her retirement?"
But that, surely, is missing the point. Random testing is exactly that. Once you allow exceptions, where do you draw the line? And no, they can't suspend her retirement, but a failed test would add an unwelcome footnote to a quite exceptional career. Better to pass the test, forget the slight, and move on.
The official responsible for the testing said that once a player's name had been drawn out of the hat, there was no alternative but to test them. "We follow the protocol because we want to keep everything fair for every player," she said. "The procedures don't vary because of any particular set of circumstances."
This is a game that for too long resisted the call for drug testing, simply refusing to get in line with the rest of the sporting world by insisting that there was no such thing as a performance-enhancing drug for golfers. Not only that, but golfers were naturally sporting and fair and thus unlikely to look for unfair advantages. What nonsense.
To the LPGA's great credit, they showed the way for drug-testing in their sport. While the men's professional tours (led primarily by the PGA Tour and the European Tour) dragged their heels - using twisted logic by insisting that the game had nothing to hide and, therefore, did not need to have drugs tests to prove it - the LPGA announced at the end of 2006 that testing would come in at the start of 2008.
The men have since got into line, although they would probably still be holding out if it were not for the fact that the game is pushing for inclusion in the Olympic Games from 2016. Without drugs-testing procedures, there is no hope of any sport being considered for the Olympics.