The use of a deer antler spray could cost Vijay Singh dearly.
The triple major winner from Fiji withdrew from the PGA Tour's Phoenix Open yesterday after admitting he used the substance that has been found to contain a banned growth hormone.
"While I have used deer antler spray, at no time was I aware that it may contain a substance that is banned under the PGA Tour Anti-Doping Policy," said Singh, who could be hit with a worldwide suspension, in a statement. "I am shocked that deer antler spray may contain a banned substance and am angry I've put myself in this position. I've been in contact with the PGA Tour and am co-operating with their review of this matter. I'll not be commenting further."
Since drug testing was introduced in golf in 2008, only one PGA Tour member, Doug Barron, has been banned for violating the code. The journeyman pro was given a one-year suspension after failing a drugs test at the St Jude Classic in 2009 but now, golf officials are facing up to the prospect of taking action against a player who spent 32 weeks as the world No.1 between 2004 and 2005.
Deer antler spray is manufactured by the controversial company, Sports With Alternatives To Steroids (SWATS) and it has been found to contain the banned IGF-1, a natural anabolic hormone that stimulates muscle growth.
In the wake of Singh's admission, Sir Bob Charles, who won the Open in 1963 at Royal Lytham, announced last night that he had used and promoted a deer antler spray for more than two decades.
The New Zealander said he was "totally unaware of illegal substances . . . being in the horn or the antler of the deer," while he added "I take one or two deer velvet capsules daily and have been doing so for 20 years or more."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article