R&A may bring in drug testing

Golf's governing body will hold a special meeting during this week's Open championship to discuss introducing compulsory drug tests, Standard Sport can reveal today.

UK Sport's anti-doping director, Michele Verroken, will hold talks with officials from the Royal and Ancient Golf Club during the tournament in Sandwich, which starts tomorrow.

Golf is one of the few sports which does not carry out random testing, a major barrier to its inclusion in the Olympics.

The subject has become a huge issue in recent months after three-time major champion Nick Price said he feared the lengthening of courses was leaving the game "open to steroids" as players struggled to keep up with the big hitters.

There is currently no drug-testing programme sanctioned by the R&A or the United States Golf Association, which controls the game in America. But Verroken said UK Sport had already held a series of meetings with the R&A about the new World Anti-Doping Agency code introduced earlier this year. The code requires sports to test competitors for performance-enhancing drugs in and out of competition.

Meanwhile, clouds moved in on the Royal St George's course today, threatening to change conditions completely for tomorrow's first day of the Open.