WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- We'll say this after a first-blush look at professional golf's second drug-testing plan to be rolled out in the span of 24 hours:
You don't need to be a lawyer, or fluent in Latin, to understand the LPGA means business.
With far less gray area regarding the punishment of offending players than their PGA Tour counterparts to date, the LPGA in January will become the first major world tour to institute drug screening among its membership. The players had best be paying attention from the outset, because unlike the preliminary PGA Tour plan unveiled Tuesday, there's little room for mercy in the LPGA's 76-page testing protocol.
For instance, while the men's tour makes a distinction between players who take performance-enhancing substances with the intent of gaining a competitive advantage, versus those who use recreational street drugs, the LPGA punishes those who test positive for all prohibited substances equally.
In short, a player who takes steroids faces the same suspension as one who tests positive for marijuana use.
"It's on the banned list, so it falls under the same regulations," said Jill Pilgrim, the LPGA's general counsel.
The suspension for a first offense is a full season, with a two-year ban from play for a second offense. A third violation will draw a lifetime ban. PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem has some wiggle room with the punitive gavel. He can punish players at his discretion if there are extenuating circumstances.
Whereas the PGA Tour won't start testing until July, the LPGA has already been bringing its players up to speed on the forthcoming testing system. A few key points in the women's system include:
• All random testing will take place during events at the tournament site. Pilgrim declined to disclose the frequency of testing, though she indicated that some players won't be tested over the course of the season.
• A player who tests positive after a tournament faces disqualification, having their results expunged and the revocation of their winnings -- not to mention a lengthy suspension. If a player fails a test administered during the week she won an event, the runner-up will be declared the victor. If two players tied for second behind a player who tests positive, the one who recorded the lowest score on Sunday is declared the winner. If multiple runner-ups posted the same score in the final round, officials will match scorecards to determine the default winner. Bizarre as that scenario sounds, the PGA Tour hasn't determined how it will solve a comparable issue and will wait until February to address the various hypotheticals of testing. "Right now, we'll have to punt on that question," spokesman Bob Combs said Wednesday. The men's tour won't start testing until July.
• LPGA players taking prescribed medications need to request a medical waiver 45 days in advance of playing in a tournament, lest they run the risk of suspension if the substance causes a positive test result. "They would be playing Russian roulette with their career," Pilgrim said.
• Like the PGA Tour, after the testing has been concluded and the player's appeals process has run its course, the LPGA intends to disclose the names of any suspended member to the public.
• If the LPGA officials receive "credible evidence" from tipsters or sources, it can order a player to be tested, Pilgrim said.
• A three-member arbitration panel will hear appeals and has the power, only in rare exceptional circumstances, to commute the length of a penalty sentence. The burden falls on the player to establish and prove her innocence.
• The LPGA plans to have lab results within 7-10 days of testing, with follow-up testing of B samples ordered as needed. However, given the possible appeals process available, Pilgrim couldn't say how long it might take for a player who commits a violation to be formally suspended.
Pilgrim, who previously worked for USA Track & Field, where drug screening has frequently turned up positive results over the years, doesn't expect many violations in the honor-bound sport of golf.
"My expectation is that we will have very few positive tests," she said. "There's not that committed core of drug-using people in golf."
