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CARNOUSTIE, Scotland — Gary Player, the winner of the 1968 British Open at the Carnoustie Golf Links, said yesterday that some golfers are using drugs that are possibly performance enhancing.
"I know that there are golfers — some of them are doing — whether it's HGH [human growth hormone], whether it's creatine or whether it's steroids, I know for a fact that some golfers are doing it," Player said at Carnoustie.
Player guessed that 10 players are using drugs. "It's definitely not going to be lower, but it might be a hell of a lot more," he said.
Asked how he could be sure, Player said one player told him that he was taking something, "and I could see the massive change in him."
Gary Player of South Africa addresses the media during previews to The 136th Open Championship at the Carnoustie Golf Club on Wednesday. (David Cannon/Getty Images)
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Player said he took an oath not to name the player. "Somebody else told me something that I also promised I wouldn't tell that verified others had done it."
"He knows two?" Nick Faldo said yesterday. "I know zero. Never heard of anybody, no."
Phil Mickelson said he doesn't think "there's even a remote chance" of a player testing positive.
Tiger Woods doesn't think drugs are much of an issue, although he advocates drug testing. "If anything, probably out here it would be testing positive for maybe being hung over a little bit," he said.
"I know some guys have taken Medrol packs for inflammation in their wrists, but other than that I really don't see anybody doing anything or have heard anybody doing anything," Woods said. "I'm interested just like anybody else to see what happens."
The R&A and the United States Golf Association did random testing on players during last year's World Amateur Team Championships in South Africa. The 12 tests came back negative. The LPGA Tour is developing a program to test its members for drugs. The European Tour has said it will test next year, while the PGA Tour recently announced that it's looking into testing its players.
"It's absolutely essential that we do that," Player said of testing players for drug usage. "We're dreaming if we think it's not going to come into golf.
