Orlando, FL ….

It was very late in the afternoon when American Matt Every entered the Media Centre after having signed for a brilliant bogey-free seven-under par 64 to lead the opening round of the Arnold Palmer Invitation.

For some five hours Rory McIlroy enjoyed the clubhouse lead until denied the opening round honours but the two-time Bayhill winning Every.

Every has contested the event every year since 2010 and with the now 36-year winning his only two PGA Tour victories in capturing the 2014 and 2015 Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Every returned to competition last September after being suspended for 12 weeks after violating its conduct policy for drugs of abuse and confirming he had tested positive for cannabis, which he has been legally prescribed in the state of Florida, where he lives.

And now an ‘uneasy’ Every has called on the PGA Tour and the World Anti-Doping Agency to allow athletes to use marijuana for medical use.

Matt Every calls on the PGA Tour to change their policy on the use of medical marijuana .. (Photo – PGA Tour)

“I have been prescribed cannabis for a mental health condition by my physician whom has managed my medical care for 30 years,” he said at the time. “It has been determined that I am neither an acceptable candidate to use prescription “Z” class drugs nor benzodiazepines.

“Additionally, these classes of drugs can be highly addictive and harmful to the human body and mind. For me, cannabis has proven to be, by far, the safest and most effective treatment.”

Well Every’s Arnold Palmer press conference today took a bizarre turn and with the conference taken over by questions surrounding his suspension.

Every was firstly asked if he had applied to the PGA Tour for a ‘TUE’ – Therapeutic Use Exemption.

The conference then went down a path I never every heard in my golfing career with Every asked, among a series of questions, does he know why the Tour banned him.

“It’s not FDA approved. There’s a lot of reasons, I’m sure. Oh, I know. Xanax is way safer to take than THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) so that’s, that’s probably one of the reasons,” he said.

“That was a joke. But it’s not — look, I am at peace with it. I don’t, it doesn’t bother me at all. Well, I change my mind. Actually, no, that’s wrong. It bothers me that it’s even an issue out here at all. I think it doesn’t do anybody any favors that it’s even on the list for a prohibited substances.

“You could fail for heroin and marijuana and the penalty is the same. If anyone wants to make the argument that that is performance enhancing, they have never done it before. I promise it’s not. It’s just — I don’t know.

“It’s just — I think, I think it would be really cool if — I know the NHL (National Hockey League) has taken some steps and a couple other, the MLB (Major League Basketball) has, the –what, the NFL (National Football League) just had their, what do you call it?

“The CBA (Continental Basketball League) have talked about it. I think it would be cool if we were proactive about it and
made some changes. I, you know, anxiety is a real thing and the way I treat it — like, I know I treat it the healthiest way possible for my body.

“And but WADA (World Anti-Doping Authority) doesn’t think so and the TOUR goes by what WADA says. So it’s really silly, to be honest. It’s really silly.

“Now I’m kind of fired up about it, so I’m going to stop talking now.”

Qn: A little bit along those lines, one by one states — it’s becoming legalized in states now —

MATT EVERY: Right.

Qn:  So, is that part of what you’re, it’s kind of part of the point you’re making, is it not?

MATT EVERY: A little bit. I think it’s — look, I don’t want — I’m not in this for attention. I don’t want to have social
media, like, this is, it’s about me, to be honest. I don’t — yeah, it’s decriminalized in, like, 41 states, I think. I
don’t want to be a spokesperson for it. I’m not into that. I also, you know, I’ve tried other, other options, CBD oil,
whatever. Snake oil. I mean, CBD (Cannabidiol) oil.

“Whatever. So I know what works for me. You know, I’ve had to dial back a little bit, but it is what it is.

Q. Is there anything you can — you know, what do you do, I guess, not being able to do what you want to do? You know what I mean?

MATT EVERY: Sure. So there’s levels — well geez, this got, this took, took a turn (Laughing.)  So, there’s levels — here’s the other thing that’s weird.

“The cutoff for THC is 150 nanograms. So you could have, you know, let’s just — we’ll use me. If I get tested and I have, and I’m at 145, good to go. If I’m at 155, I’m a drug abuser. That’s ridiculous. It’s ridiculous. Yeah.

THE MODERATOR: All right, Matt, thanks for the time,  we’ll wrap it up. Great playing today.