November 22, 2008, West Palm Beach Florida– “I really don’t know what’s going on. They’re not going to let me go (away).”
These are the words of Annika Sörenstam after confirming that this is her second drug test in recent weeks—and the subject of controversy even in the last minutes of her assumed retirement. Moreover, in just a short while after the ADT Championship’s second and final round for Sorenstam, she was approached by a U.S. LPGA stating that she needed to submit to a random test.
Jill Pilgrim, the general counsel of the tour and the one responsible for overseeing the drug testing reiterated, “I’ve been doing drug testing for a long time. The numbers come up and you test the players whose numbers come up. Everyone in the field was subject to drug testing. They all had an equal opportunity to be selected.”
Meanwhile, according to U.S. LPGA, they followed a protocol in employing a random drug test to Sorenstam. In fact, at the start at of the season, the U.S. LPGA already initiated the random testing plan. In addition, according to the tour commissioner, Carol Bivens, she could not discuss the number of players tested or the events where the testing took place.
Lastly, until the results of the drug test are made known, Sorenstam’s prize money worth 6,400 euros will be withheld in accordance with the tour drug-testing bylaws.