PGA Tour: Golfers free to keep taking Meldonium

Professional golfers on the PGA Tour taking the medication that has forced the suspension of Maria Sharapova from tennis will not face any sanction for a similar drugs violation.

In an anomaly that has grown out of the difference in when the seasons of the two sports begin and end, Meldonium, which is used to treat a lack of blood flow to parts of the body and was placed on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s prohibited-substance list at the beginning of this year, was put on the tennis banned list but not that of golf.

In an interview with Andy Levinson on golfchannel.com, the PGA Tour's executive director of policy administration and the executive director of USA Golf explained why a golfer who tests positive for Meldonium in next month's US Masters event will not suffer the same consequences of the five-time Grand Slam champion Sharapova.

“We revise our prohibited-substance list on a seasonal basis in the early fall [OCTOBER]and at that time meldonium was not prohibited by Wada,” said Levinson. “When our next revision takes place at the end of the 2015-16 season it will be put on the (banned) list.”

Wada listed meldonium in its monitoring program in 2015, but it was not placed not on the banned list until the beginning of this year. Sharapova's positive test arose from a sample taken in late January 2016 at the Australian Open championship.

The PGA Tour’s anti-doping policy largely follows the Wada prohibited list with some minor variations. But with the Olympic Games beginning in Rio in August and golf taking part for the first time since 1904, the game’s top stars will have to fall into line with the drug policies of Wada and all of the other participating sports in Rio.

On May 6th all potential Olympic golfers, which could include Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry and Graeme McDowell will be subject to testing from the US Anti Doping Agency, which does include Meldonium on its list of banned products.