News

Why Golf Needs to Test

With the complete lack of integrity in other sports, baseball and Barry Bonds confounding commissioner Bud Selig, Shawne Merriman violating the NFL drug policy and still being included on the All Pro team, the entire Tour de France, the NBA’s Tom Donaghy golf needs to make a stand. Now. Firmly. By not making some drugs against the rules professional golf condones their use. Unacceptable to me and to those whose achievements would be clouded by this specter. A policy needs to be implemented to allow the sport to maintain its integrity in a world that is losing that value rapidly.

Published

19 years ago

Aug 2, 2007

Eric Schuster

Barry Bonds is being booed across America as he chases Hank Aaron’s home run record as Commissioner Bud Selig trys to stradle a very wide, very pointed fence(which explains the elevated pitch to his voice); the Tour de France appears to be comprised solely of pharmaceutically enhanced participants; Shawne Merriman makes the NFL All Pro squad despite a four game suspension for violating the league steroid policy; the NBA has Tom Donaghy dragged into the light from a very dark, fearsome hole. I went searching for integrity and this is what I found.

Not compelling enough for you? I know golf has nothing comparable, if we ignore Colin Montgomery and the washed out lie, yet. Golf is a game based on the integrity of it’s players but how long will that integrity go unchallenged in an era that makes a mockery of that virtue. With the promise of big rewards how long before someone is willing to take big risks? What are the options available today to allow golf to maintain the integrity of the game and it’s players?

Do nothing. Believe that the only drugs used in professional golf are of the recreational variety. These guys are above all that, besides there are no performance enhancing drugs that actually work for golf. If you subscribe to this I would advise you to discuss pharmacology with a pharmacist. There are numerous substances available today that can advantageously affect golf performance. Just because you don’t talk about the elephant in the living room doesn’t mean there is no elephant in the living room. To believe that someone on the cusp of getting, or losing, his card hasn’t chemically assisted pursuit of that goal denies the elephant.

But testing is a violation of my rights as an individual. Not so much, when what we’re discussing is a work place that has as its core value integrity. Does anyone truly wish to see Tiger Woods chase Jack Nicklaus’s major championship record surrounded in controversy similar to Mr. Bonds? Even the hint of drugs, anywhere in the game, brings into question every players achievements, clean or dirty. It’s a shroud worn by all if there is no method in place to exonerate the many. It’s the right all players to have their workplace proven to be drug free. By not making the drugs themselves illegal to use in competition, professional golf condones their use. If the substances are banned do we expect the users to call a penalty on themselves? In the eye of the public would that remove all question of the presence of drugs in golf? Testing is the only way to insure compliance and maintain the integrity of the game in a visibly public manner. If a player doesn’t want to be tested because it violates his rights so be it, he would need to find somewhere else to practice his craft. By choosing to play the game for a living you agree to play by the rules, all of them.

I like golf for a variety of reasons, one of which being it represents an outpost of values lacking in professional sports, and a large part of the world around me, today. While I take no pleasure in the necessity that requires drug testing in workplaces everywhere I understand the need to do so in a firm quantifiable way. To do anything else is unacceptably foolish.

News

5 Things we Learned: Thursday at the U.S.. Women’s Open

Published

5 hours ago

Jun 5, 2026

Ronald Montesano

Gone are the days when the U.S. Women’s Open was held at Scenic Hills or Churchill Valley. Fine courses that they are (or were, as Churchill Valley went bankrupt a decade ago) there is something to be said for the venue. Not all Women’s Open playings need to take place on Men’s Open venues, but some should. This week in Los Angeles, the Women’s Open visits Riviera Country Club for the first time. Down the road, we will visit Inverness, Oakmont, Interlachen, Oak Hill, Chicago Golf, and Merion. That is quite the murderer’s row (1927 Yankees reference) of golf clubs.

What can we expect from the 2026 tournament? Greatness and uncertainty. Unlike the PGA Tour, which visits Riviera each February, the LPGA does not, so the women will not have nearly the body of work over the George C. Thomas layout. Maybe that’s a good thing. Maybe they’ll play #10 smarter than the men do. Maybe they’ll figure some things out that their male counterparts can not. For today, we’ll try to find five things to learn, and share them with you.

First, this ain’t your momma’s U.S. Open course

How do we know? Well, so far, only one previous champion currently sits inside the top thirty. That would be Minjee Lee, the 2022 winner at Southern (NC) Pines. Lee made par on her first nine holes, the inward side at Riviera. She dropped birdie putts on the first and ninth holes (ten and eighteen for her day) and tallied another seven pars, for 69. She sits three shots off Jennifer Kupcho’s opening 66. Don’t worry about Kupcho; we’ll get to her. After Lee, defending champion Maja Stark ranks T30 at even par, joined by three other, former winners.

What Minjee did, is the sort of thing that wins U.S. Open titles. She guided her ship safely past swells, and made a move when the waters calmed. The fewer the bogeys, the more likely Minjee figures in the outcome on Sunday evening in Pacific Palisades. Off the tee, Lee was unmatched. She hit 14 of 14 fairways. Her iron play was a bit loose in comparison. She putted for birdie on 12 of 18 holes, which meant that her recovery short game was on point. Lee was ten yards longer on measured driving holes than the field average, and was below the field average (a good thing) in putting.

Second, the amateurs beat a loud drum

Three of the world’s top amateur golfer posted 70, placing them four off the lead, in a tie for 14th place. Canada’s Aphrodite Deng, Spain’s Paula Francisco Llaño, and Colombia’s Maria José Marin, showed the professional world that their game is strong. Both Deng and Francisco Llaño collected five birdies on the day. Should they match that output on day two, and minimize the foozles, they’ll be the topic of conversation on Saturday morning. Marin, the 2026 Augusta National Women’s Amateur champion and an NCAA team semifinalist last week, played a game similar to Minjee Lee: few mistakes and few taken risks.

The last amateur to post the low medal score for 72 holes was Jenny Chuasiriporn in 1998. She lost a playoff to Se Ri Pak, who matched her plus-six effort at Blackwolf Run. The last amateur to win the U.S. Women’s Open was Catherine Lacoste in 1967. The amateurs are stronger than they’ve ever been, but the professionals have not allowed them to close the gap. A victory by one of the college set would be a cannon shot heard round the world. Could it happen? Absolutely. Is it likely? Not at all.

Third, let’s talk Kupcho

Jennifer Kupcho won the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur. She won three times on tour in 2022, including the Chevron, a major title. She won a fourth event in 2025, but has not established the winning credentials projected on her after 2022’s marvelous coming-out.

Kupcho hails from Colorado, and spent four years in the Carolina Piedmont, at Wake Forest Universtiy. Neither of those locales cries out I’ll be at home at Riviera, but here we are, after a seven-birdie performance. Kupcho posted birdie on each of her first three holes, and added four more (against two bogeys) to assume a one-shot advantage over Korea’s Sei Young Kim.

Kupcho drove the ball decently, approached moderately well, but putted lights out on Thursday. Her 26 putts were tied for best in show on day one. There might just be something about the putting surfaces at Riviera that aligns with Kupcho’s vibe. If that is the case, just get the ball on the green, anywhere, and let the flatstick do the lifting.

Fourth, how young is Sei Young?

Sei (pronounced “So”) Young Kim won a dozen times from 2015 to 2020. She took time off from winning until 2025, shen she captured a thirteenth LPGA title. Like Kupcho, Kim has hardware from one major event, the 2020 Women’s PGA Championship. How to explain the five years away from victory? No idea. When Sei Young was in contention during the prime of her career, the outcome was a foregone conclusion.

What to expect over the next three days at Riviera? Anyone’s guess. It might be the 2015-2020 Sei Young, or it could be the 2021-2025 version. Kim began her day with birdies at 10 and 11, then settled into a stretch of pars before her solitary bogey at the 4th (her 13th) hole. Kim regained her composure and reeled in three birdies to close the front nine. Her four-under performance trails Kupcho alone, and there is a real chance that Sei Young will produce a second score in the 60s and take a bit of control of the tournament.

Fifth, we’re giddy for Gaby

Although I cannot place my finger on why, it seems that each year, Gaby Lopez pops up on the U.S. Open leaderboard. She hasn’t figure out how to remain in contention, but here we are, in 2026, and Lopez is once again in the mix. The three-time champion on the LPGA circuit had a stunning first nine holes, turning in minus-five. She reached six deep at her tenth hole, but then gave three shots back coming home. Which Gaby will show up on Friday, and for how long? If back-nine Gaby can somehow channel front-nine Gaby, all outcomes are within reach. If the loose play continues, Lopez’ wiki page will add one more T41 to her majors column.

Tour Photo Galleries

Photos from the 2026 U.S. Women’s Open

Published

2 days ago

Jun 3, 2026

GolfWRX Staff

GolfWRX Tour Photographer made the trip from the Memorial Tournament across the country to the U.S. Women’s Open at Riviera. Check out links to all the photos below!

General Albums

WITB Albums

Pullout Albums

Tour Photo Galleries

Photos from the 2026 Memorial Tournament

Published

4 days ago

Jun 1, 2026

GolfWRX Staff

GolfWRX is on site this week at the Memorial Tournament, with both Alistair Cameron and Tour Photographer Greg Moore on the ground in Dublin, Ohio, where a strong field is assembled to pay homage to the Golden Bear.

In addition to WITB galleries, we’ve already been treated to an in-hand look at Tommy Fleetwood’s new TaylorMade Spider putters.

Check out links to all our photos below.

General Albums

WITB Albums