News

PGA Tour Considering Drug Testing Policy

According to Commissioner Tim Finchem, the PGA Tour is close to developing a drug testing policy for all its members. Why has the Tour come to this decision and how do the players feel about it?

Published

19 years ago

Jun 23, 2007

K Vakamudi

Roughly a year ago, PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem stated that the PGA Tour had no need for a drug testing policy. Finchem seemed very comfortable in his reasoning – that a problem was not perceived to exist and if there were allegations against a specific player, they would be dealt with on a player to Commissioner basis. However, times appear to be changing. At a press conference at this week’s Travelers Championship, Finchem stated changes were being made to rules that would lead to drug testing in the future.

"It’s unfortunate that these realities are with us, but they are, and we have to deal with them, and I think it’s important that golf deal with them collectively," said Finchem. Yet this new policy hardly seems proactive considering the government required testing of all athletes in Europe and the LPGA which has already instituted thier drug testing policy they will enforce in 2008.

Stories about performance enhancing drugs and sports have become fixtures in the news. The blind eye baseball showed towards drug testing was thrust into the public spotlight as many of the sport’s icons have been implicated in the use of performance enhancing drugs. Once thought the cure-all for home run hitters, quite a few pitchers have also begun testing positive recently, which shattered the stereotype of finesse positions being unaffected and even hindered by performance pharmaceuticals. In this day and age, it was rather naive for the PGA Tour to believe they are immune to this problem. In the past ten years, the redefinition as the modern golfer as an athelete has progressed in leaps and bounds. Golfers everywhere are realizing the importance of strength and conditioning to improving their performance and are taking advantage of every opportunity presented to improve their abilities and performance. Although golf is singular in its code of ethics and self officiating, people have found ways to cheat in the past and will find ways to do so in the future. The steps the PGA Tour is making will ensure that golf does not recieve the same black marks against its reputation baseball has endured.

As a welcome change of pace, many players seem to be on board with the testing policy, some even asking why a plan hasn’t been in place previously. When asked about the possibility of testing last year, Tiger Woods said, "I don’t know when we could get that implemented. Tomorrow would be fine with me." This week’s defending champion, J. J. Henry was asked about the issue during his press conference. He added, "What the Commissioner does, whatever they decide to do, I obviously will be behind, but I’d like to think there’s none of that going on out here, to be honest with you." Greg Norman also commented on the issue, "If the rules aren’t there, you can’t blame the players. If it is happening, and I’m not saying it is, even if one player is doing it, it’s one too many."

Yet, not all players seem to be on board with the idea. Much of the dissent on the testing policy appears to have more to do with the make-up of the PGA Tour Policy Board which is made up of nine players who decide on policies for the memberships. Mark Brooks was one who disagreed with the testing policy, "Basically, in (the PGA Tour) you’ve got 200-plus independent contractors and those who are on the PGA Tour Policy Board are not all elected, and well, there’s a problem," Brooks said. "Should we or should we not? Whatever. But it’s not just a matter of Tiger (Woods’) opinion or someone else’s opinion or whether we should or shouldn’t. I’m not a lawyer, obviously not by any stretch. But my guess is that we’ll have some serious legal issues if we get into that field."

Regardless of the various wishes of players, it appears that the wheels are well in motion towards developing a firm testing policy. Joe Durant, a member of the Tour’s Policy Board said, "It’ll happen, being on the board, we’ve already discussed it. It’s just getting it correct. We just have to make sure it’s done right the first time so we don’t have to keep amending it, but it will happen." While this is a controversial subject, a simple glance at the drug fueled stories found in today’s sports news seems to put things back in perspective as to just how important a stable testing policy will be to maintaining the image of the PGA Tour in the future.

News

WITB Time Machine: Phil Mickelson’s winning WITB, 2021 PGA Championship

Published

1 day ago

May 13, 2026

GolfWRX Staff

Phil Mickelson made history at the 2021 PGA Championship on Kiawah Island’s Ocean Course. At 50, he became the oldest player to win a major, breaking Julius Boros’s record. Starting the final round with a slim lead, Lefty faced tough competition from Brooks Koepka and Louis Oosthuizen. He pulled ahead with key birdies and a standout 366-yard drive on the 16th hole. Finishing 6 under par and two shots ahead, Mickelson claimed his sixth major and second PGA Championship. Many saw his win as an inspiring comeback, showing that experience and determination can still lead to victory in professional golf — and, sometimes, age is just a number.

Driver: Callaway Epic Speed Triple Diamond (6 degrees @5.5 , green dot cog)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X (47.9 inches)

2-wood: TaylorMade “Original One” Mini Driver (11.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 7 X

4-wood (Sunday only): Callaway Mavrik Sub Zero (16.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 8 X

Irons: Callaway X Forged UT (16) (Thursday-Saturday), Callaway X21 UT Proto (19 degrees @20.5, 25), Callaway Apex MB ‘21 (small groove) (6-PW)
Shafts: (16) MCA MMT 105 TX, KBS Tour V 125 S+

Wedges: Callaway PM Grind ’19 “Raw” (52-12@50, 55-12, 60-10)
Shafts: KBS Tour V 125 S+

Putter: Odyssey Milled Blade “Phil Mickelson”
Grip: SuperStroke Pistol GT Tour

Ball: Callaway Chrome Soft X (Triple Track)

Grips: Golf Pride MCC

More photos of Phil Mickelson’s WITB here.

News

2026 PGA Championship betting odds

Published

2 days ago

May 12, 2026

Gianni Magliocco

Scottie Scheffler leads the betting ahead of the second major championship of the year, with the World Number One a +345 favorite to get his hands on a second PGA Championship.

Rory McIlroy who won the Masters back in April is a +800 shot to complete half of the calendar slam at Aronimink Golf Club this week, while Jordan Spieth can be backed at +5900 to become a career grand slam winner.

Here is the full betting board for the 2026 PGA Championship courtesy of DraftKings.

Scottie Scheffler +345 – (Check 0ut his WITB here)

Rory McIlroy +800 – (Check out his WITB here)

Jon Rahm +1300
Cameron Young +1500
Bryson DeChambeau +1700
Xander Schauffele +1850
Matt Fitzpatrick +1950
Ludvig Aberg +2000
Tommy Fleetwood +2600
Collin Morikawa +3500
Brooks Koepka +3900
Justin Rose +4300
Russell Henley +4600
Si Woo Kim +4700
Justin Thomas +4800
Robert MacIntyre +5300
Patrick Cantlay +5300
Viktor Hovland +5400
Tyrrell Hatton +5500
Jordan Spieth +5900
Sam Burns +6000
Hideki Matsuyama +6200
Adam Scott +6400
Rickie Fowler +7000
Chris Gotterup +7400
Patrick Reed +7400
Min Woo Lee +7800
Ben Griffin +8000
Sepp Straka +8400
Shane Lowry +9000
Akshay Bhatia +9200
Maverick McNealy +9200
Joaquin Niemann +9200
Jake Knapp +9200
Jason Day +9600
Kurt Kitayama +10000
J.J. Spaun +10000
Harris English +10500
Nicolai Hojgaard +11000
Gary Woodland +11000
David Puig +11000
Michael Thorbjornsen +12000
Jacob Bridgeman +12000
Keegan Bradley +12500
Corey Conners +14000
Alex Fitzpatrick +15000
Sungjae Im +15500
Sahith Theegala +15500
Harry Hall +15500
Alex Noren +16000
Thomas Detry +16500
Marco Penge +16500
Kristoffer Reitan +17000
Alex Smalley +17000
Wyndham Clark +17500
Sam Stevens +17500
Keith Mitchell +17500
Daniel Berger +18500
Ryan Gerard +20000
Nick Taylor +20000
Rasmus Hojgaard +21000
Dustin Johnson +21000
Pierceson Coody +23000
Aaron Rai +24000
Jordan Smith +24000
Angel Ayora +24000
Bud Cauley +25000
Matt McCarty +26000
Jayden Schaper +26000
Brian Harman +27000
Taylor Pendrith +27000
Ryan Fox +27000
J.T. Poston +27000
Cameron Smith +29000
Ryo Hisatsune +29000
Michael Kim +29000
Max Homa +29000
Denny McCarthy +29000
Tom McKibbin +30000
Rico Hoey +32000
Matt Wallace +32500
Ricky Castillo +33000
Haotong Li +33000
Michael Brennan +34000
Max Greyserman +36000
Stephan Jaeger +37500
Christiaan Bezuidenhout +37500
Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen +39000
Aldrich Potgieter +40000
Andrew Novak +42000
Patrick Rodgers +42500
Daniel Hillier +42500
Max McGreevy +46000
Billy Horschel +48000
Chris Kirk +48000
Ian Holt +49000
Casey Jarvis +49000
William Mouw +50000
Steven Fisk +50000
John Parry +50000
Nico Echavarria +52500
Garrick Higgo +52500
John Keefer+55000
Matthias Schmid +57500
Austin Smotherman +57500
Sami Valimaki +60000
Andrew Putnam +60000
Lucas Glover +62500
Daniel Brown +62500
Jhonattan Vegas +75000
Emiliano Grillo +80000
Mikael Lindberg +85000
Adrien Saddier +100000
Bernd Wiesberger +100000
Elvis Smylie +110000
Stewart Cink +130000
Kota Kaneko +130000
David Lipsky +150000
Chandler Blanchet +150000
Andy Sullivan +150000
Joe Highsmith +180000
Adam Schenk +200000
Travis Smyth +200000
Davis Riley +225000
Martin Kaymer +400000
Brian Campbell +400000
Padraig Harrington +450000
Kazuki Higa +450000
Jordan Gumberg +450000
Ryan Vermeer +500000
Austin Hurt +500000
Tyler Collet +500000
Timothy Wiseman +500000
Shaun Micheel +500000
Y.E. Yang +500000
Michael Block+500000
Mark Geddes+500000
Luke Donald+500000
Bryce Fisher+500000
Jimmy Walker +500000
Jason Dufner +500000
Jesse Droemer +500000
Jared Jones +500000
Garrett Sapp +500000
Francisco Bide +500000
Zach Haynes +500000
Paul McClure+500000
Derek Berg +500000
Chris Gabriele +500000
Braden Shattuck +500000
Ben Polland +500000
Ben Kern +50000

Tour Photo Galleries

Photos from the 2026 PGA Championship

Published

3 days ago

May 11, 2026

GolfWRX Staff

GolfWRX is on site for the second major of 2026: The PGA Championship from Aronimink in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania.

The tournament’s location, just outside Philadelphia, and its status as a major championship mean GolfWRXers are in for a treat: WITBs from a strong field, custom gear celebrating the PGA Championship, and the rich culture of the City of Brotherly Love — we have noted a relative absence of cheesesteak-themed items thus far this week, but most of the rest of the usual suspects are well represented.

Check out links to all our photos below.