For first time, LPGA players face random drug testing

WILLIAMSBURG

Jamie Hullett is 5-foot-2. She weighs 100 pounds. She sounds like Minnie Mouse.

And sometime this season, she'll probably be tested for steroids.

"It's funny, isn't it?" said Hullett, who fired a first-round 70 at the Michelob Ultra Open at Kingsmill. "I still think if you're my size, you should be able to move up a tee box."

Hullett hardly fits the profile of a steroid user. Nor do countless other pint-sized LPGA Tour players. Still, the organization has begun randomly testing for performance-enhancing drugs.

Starting this season, the LPGA now tests for 33 anabolic steroids, 29 stimulants and 20 beta-blockers. Marijuana and cocaine also are on the list.

"Good thing I'm only addicted to Diet Coke and McDonald's ice cream cones," joked Liz Janangelo, a 5-foot-5, 125-pounder. "I use a lot of Splenda... so I hope there are no trace amounts of anything in those."

Hullet and Janangelo are amused by the new policy. Their game is more about finesse than power, they say. Although, Janangelo added, beta-blockers could calm a player's nerves on the course - steady the putter, perhaps.

"At least this way there's no questions," Hullett said. "Unfortunately, that's the way all sports are going. You never know."

Janangelo is looking forward to her first drug test. She's been working on her biceps and when the LPGA hands her a specimen cup, she figures it'll mean her muscles are menacing.

"I'm excited!" she said. "It'd make me feel good to get tested."

Hullett isn't as enthusiastic.

"You have to pee in front of somebody," she said, "which is no fun for a modest person."

But all jokes aside, Hullett would be surprised if any of her LPGA colleagues were using drugs to pump up.

"The last thing you want on a golf course," she said, "is a 'roid rage."