The Tour doesn’t choose the items that appear on the list of the World Anti-Doping Agencies guidelines. It seems that the PGA has pretty much gone out of their way to help Singh, by dropping the charges. The substance is “deer antler” and is actually no longer considered a banned substance.
A little history on the story: The PGA has a set of rules they enforce and every tour player is made aware of them. These rules have been scrutinized, discussed, brought to the front and agreed on by the players.
Now that “deer antler” has been erased as illegal, Vijay feels he was a victim of a witch hunt. He admitted to using the substance before it was dropped from the list, but at the time of his use it was still considered cheating. The PGA Tour dropped the charges on Singh because it was no longer listed as a sinful tool.
Maybe he shouldn’t be getting off without some sort of repercussion for his actions. Instead of an expression of gratitude to The PGA, which set him free to get back to his profession, he’s filing a lawsuit.
What is “deer antler” and what can it do?
The product is called deer velvet, a spray, and it comes from the growing bone and cartilage that develops into deer antlers. People have used deer velvet as a medicine for a wide range of health problems. It’s used to boost strength and endurance, improve the way the immune system works, counter the effects of stress and promote rapid recovery from illness. The substance is primarily used when an athlete is power training, or weight training. Like many of these supplements there may be side effects, but it’s not known what the possible side effects might be. They do know that it shouldn’t be used during pregnancy. I would never recommend a product that doesn’t have enough research behind it to justify its use.
Back to Vijay, he needs to reconsider his aggressive attack on the PGA. He, historically, has had his problems. One that goes back to 1985, when the now 50-year-old was just 22 years of age. He was suspended from the Asian Tours because he allegedly doctored his scorecard. He also has the reputation of being one of the “bad guys” on the tour.
Vijay has made a statement, through his lawyer, relating to the dropped charges: “I am proud of my achievement, my work ethic and the way I live my life. The PGA Tour not only treated me unfairly, but displayed a lack of professionalism that should concern every professional golfer and fan of the game.”
He states that his use of deer velvet was a necessary relief for his bad knee and back—he claimed that it worked for him.
It might be time for Vijay to move into the senior tour. There’s a lot of money to be made at that level. He can compete with guys who have the same chronic pains that he has and maybe just take ibuprofen and a hot shower for his aches and pains. But what Vijay Singh is doing isn’t going to make his pain go away. To the contrary of his reputation, he needs to shed a new light on his story by forgiving the PGA for doing their job. Sounds a little silly, but it’s just a suggestion.
