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Click here to read about Lorena and Annika's showdown.
By BETH ANN BALDRY
Senior WriterKAPOLEI, Hawaii – When Lindsey Wright saw a volunteer coming her direction outside the scoring tent Feb. 21 at the Fields Open, she immediately knew the woman wasn’t looking for an autograph. Wright was one of several players randomly selected for drug testing on Day 1 at Ko Olina. The Aussie was so concerned about what was to follow, she could barely fill out her scorecard.
“I was nervous, anxious,” said Wright, who couldn’t believe she was asked to take her hat off while giving the sample. “It’s like teeing off. Once you get out there, you’re ready to go.”
For Wright, the process of giving a sample with someone in the room was more worrisome than the results. But she got in and out in 35 minutes. For Maria Hjorth, it was only 20 minutes. Natalie Gulbis, however, waited for at least 2 hours before someone was available to administer her test.
“I think they have some kinks they definitely need to work out,” said Gulbis, who noted that more administrators were added as the day went along. “But everything was handled very professionally.”
Jill Pilgrim, the LPGA’s general counsel, referred to the day as historic in golf and deemed it “very successful and positive.” She said the tour was more concerned with everything being precise than the amount of time it took to be tested. As players and officials become more familiar with the process, Pilgrim said, it will get faster.
She did note, however, that there were several times during her days working with Olympic track and field that she sat with an athlete for hours waiting on the athlete to provide a sample.
Kelli Kuehne opened with a 5-under 67 but never made it to the media room to talk about her round. She went in for testing immediately after turning in her scorecard and sat in a holding room for 2 hours, 45 minutes. By the time she’d finished, Kuehne didn’t even feel like practicing.
“I was one of the guinea pigs,” she said. “I’m hoping it’s something they will fine-tune.”
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Beth Ann Baldry is a
Golfweek senior writer. To reach her e-mail
bbaldry@golfweek.com.
Posted: 2/27/2008
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