Tiger's take on PEDs and anchor ban

• By Rex Hoggard
• Feb 19, 2013 4:27 PM ET

MARANA, Ariz. – Three weeks removed from his last PGA Tour start, a victory at Torrey Pines, Tiger Woods’ first session with the press was predictably filled with questions that had little to do with his game or this week’s WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship.

The first question Woods was asked on Tuesday at Dove Mountain was whether he’d ever been tested for performance-enhancing drugs when he wasn’t at a Tour event, which is allowed under the circuit’s anti-doping program.

“I didn't play in the event, but I was tested at the World Challenge,” said Woods, who missed the World Challenge in 2008 and 2009. “I was at the tournament site (as the host).”

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From there the conversation bore directly into Vijay Singh’s predicament with the Tour’s anti-doping code. Singh admitted to using a deer-antler spray last month that may contain IGF-1, a growth hormone that is banned under the Tour’s PED policy.

“I think it happens in all sports, and hopefully it doesn't happen in this sport, and it's one of the reasons why we have the testing policy that's instituted with (the World Anti-Doping Agency),” Woods said. “Rules are rules, and they're pretty strict guidelines.”

Woods was also asked about a potential rule change that would ban anchoring if approved later this year by the U.S. Golf Association and Royal & Ancient. The Tour’s Policy Board held a conference call on Monday to craft a statement regarding the potential ban and some have speculated that the circuit could ignore the possible ban and make its own rules.

“I understand if we go either way,” Woods said. “We put in local rules every week, and this may or may not be a local rule, but we'll see what happens.”

Woods has said in the past that anchoring should not be allowed.