Vijay Singh must pay a Deer price for 'mistake'

On 21 January I published a blog titled as “Golfers shine like a beacon for sportsmanship”, it illustrated the way golfers respected the rules and respected each other and used high profile incidents in other sports to show the general lack of respect for fellow professionals across other sports. Throughout the blog I didn't touch on the issue of drug cheats because the major point I was attempting to illustrate was sportsmanship and etiquette, drug cheats in sport are common especially in Cycling and Athletics, but in golf? I have always believed that if drug cheats were exposed in golf it would be absolutely devastating for the game. A game which prides itself on fair play and honesty would have the fabric of the sport damaged severely.

In the January 28 edition of Sports Illustrated Vijay Singh admitted to using Deer Antler Spray, he said the following:

Singh paid Ross $9,000 for the spray, chips, beam ray and powder additive -- making him one of the few athletes who is compensating S.W.A.T.S. He says he uses the spray banned by the PGA "every couple of hours . . . every day," sleeps with the beam ray on and has put chips on his ankles, waist and shoulders. "I'm looking forward to some change in my body," Singh says. "It's really hard to feel the difference if you're only doing it for a couple of months.")

The Deer Antler Spray product was made available by S.W.A.T.S. Which is known by its full name of Sports With Alternatives To Steroids. Deer velvet sprays use a liquid form of deer velvet, which is sprayed directly under the tongue. This allows the pituitary gland to absorb the deer velvet so it can reach the bloodstream faster. Most Deer Antler Velvet Sprays require the user to spray twice – once in the morning, and once at night. Deer velvet antler is purported to be a tonic which restores balance to the body. There are over 400 active ingredients in deer velvet antler which have an effect on many body systems. Deer velvet antler ingredients are precursors to substances used by the body for a wide variety of health remedy and health maintenance purposes. Moose, Elk and Deer produce new antlers yearly (primarily males, except in caribou/reindeer). The stags are not harmed or killed for the velvet antler. In some countries, such as Australia and New Zealand, deer are subject to local anaesthesia and restrained during antler removal, and the procedure is supervised by licensed veterinarians. Typically, the antler is cut off near the base after it is about two-thirds of its potential full size, between 55 to 65 days of growth, before any significant calcification occurs. (source: wikipedia)

Following the release of the edition of Sports Illustrated the news spread rapidly across the world via social media and the debate was feverish with current and former tour professionals all having their say on the issue, many of them critical of Singh. The Fijian pulled out of the Waste Management Phoenix Open with a 'back injury', and during the week issued the following statement: 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. In fact, when I first received the product, I reviewed the list of ingredients and did not see any prohibited substances. I am absolutely shocked that deer antler spray may contain a banned substance and am angry that I have put myself in this position. I have been in contact with the PGA TOUR and am cooperating fully with their review of this matter. I will not be commenting further at this time.

Singh says he didn't see any prohibited substances and he is absolutely shocked it contained any banned substance. A typical response from someone who has been found out. Let us take a look at the following information published on deerantlervelvet.org:

Quick Bullet-Point Focus Checklist on the Deer Antler Velvet Spray 4-1-1 Truth:

• Benefit #1: Increased Tissue Growth & Blood Plasma Testosterone Levels for Quicker Recovery
• Benefit #2: Enhanced IGF-1 (growth factor) Production for Muscle Stimulation & Activation
• Benefit #3: Reduce Muscle Soreness/Fatigue for Higher Endurance Threshold & Cardiac Output
• Benefit #4: Nutrient Dense Antler Extract Enhances Protein Synthesis & Cuts Body Fat % Faster
• Benefit #5: Explode Competitive Endeavors & Spring into Action with Youthful Vitality + Vigor

Question one: Is anyone in any doubt as to why a cheat would want to use Deer Antler Spray?

Anyone thinking the answer is NO?

In my opinion there can be absolutely no doubt why a cheat would want to use the Deer Antler Spray, and there can be no doubt as to why Vijay Singh in particular would want to use it. Three of the identified benefits of the spray are especially significant to the Fijian. Singh has always suffered from injury throughout his career, particularly back and wrist injuries which the Deer Antler Spray helps with increased tissue growth and blood plasma testosterone levels to assist with quicker recovery from training.

Singh is also renowned for his dynamic and vigorous training regime and practice on the range, with increasing age maintaining this becomes much harder and the Deer Antler Spray helps reduce muscle soreness/fatigue, enabling high endurance threshold and cardiac output. This means the 49-year-old can continue to maintain is famous regime to make it possible for him to continue to compete on the PGA Tour into his 50's, and come onto the Champions Tour (something I will talk about in more detail later) as a man to be feared.

The final major benefit which can be related to the reasons why Singh would use the spray is 'Explode Competitive Endeavors & Spring into Action with Youthful Vitality + Vigor'. The spray can assist in enabling Singh to compete as if he was of a younger age than he is, potentially giving him an advantage over the players on the Champions Tour when and if he competes in the bigger tournaments on that tour, whilst continuing to play the bulk of his golf on the PGA Tour.

Question two: Can anyone see why Vijay Singh would not see or even suspect that the spray contained banned substances?

Anyone thinking the answer is YES?

Naïve or stupid, there are several words you could use but I prefer dishonest. There is absolutely no possible way Vijay Singh could not even suspect that Deer Antler Spray contained banned substances. If you are going to use a spray like this you do it for a reason and because it gives you a number of benefits, and you surely know which benefits it gives you otherwise you wouldn't use the spray.

This by no means is a Lance Armstrong but it is a clear cut example of cheating from an athlete coming towards the end of his career in an attempt to prolong his career.

The drug testing policy has evolved over the last 6-8 years in golf, with the major tours beginning testing in 2008 ahead of a bid to see golf reinstated as an Olympic sport. To date only one player has fallen victim to the policy, Doug Barron was banned for one year after testing positive for supplemental testosterone and a beta-blocker and the issue of drug taking in golf to boost performance hasn't ever been something many of us have ever considered a threat, I certainly believed our competitors had too much respect for each other and the game to partake in this. But with the stakes getting higher and higher and the money they play for week-in-week-out it may be inevitable that there will be isolated incidents.

What makes Vijay Singh's 'mistake' even more remarkable is that the PGA Tour issued a warning about the Deer Antler Spray in August of 2011. Yet over 16 months later a former world number one has admitted to using the spray on a regular basis.

The reaction on the tour was one of disbelief and disappointment, and I have to say if I was ever thinking an incident like this could occur in golf I thought it would be involving a younger golfer who was struggling to make an impact on the tour, not an all-time great of the game. Vijay Singh has won three major championships, 55 tournaments worldwide and was world number one for 32 weeks in the middle of the last decade. The Fijian though, it seems, has a somewhat confusing attitude towards the game and its ethos having been banned for wrongly recording his score in 1985 in Asia.

Singh is meeting with the PGA Tour as the investigation continues, but meanwhile he has been allowed to play in the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-am and no decision has yet been reached over sanctions Singh should face.

Obviously if the PGA Tour want to uphold golf's position as an Olympic sport then they have to hand out sanctions which match other Olympic sports, but it does complicate the matter that the substance Singh has admitted to using isn't just commonplace among Champions Tour players, their membership actively promote the product in some cases. With Singh being nearly 50 a ban on the PGA Tour may not suffice, although he is exempt for a number of years because of his 34 PGA Tour wins.

If the tour and the sport wants to be taken seriously the only option may well be a life ban and for the International Federation of PGA Tours this should be a seminal moment. If it is to take its role as the governing body of tour golf across the world then it has to take collective action to set an example to members of every tour worldwide as the sport moves towards its return to the Olympic Games in 3 years time.

There can be absolutely no mistake about believing Vijay Singh tried to gain and may well have gained an unfair advantage during the last few years and sought to gain an advantage on those who were not using the substance on the Champions Tour. The punishment has to be severe, as it should be for anyone else found to be using Deer Antler Spray. It has to be a life ban, it has to be public naming and shaming and in my opinion it has to see the achievements of each player found guilty erased from their records and winners changed in each of the tournaments won by the guilty players. It may sound extreme but this great game of ours prides itself on honesty and respect for the fellow professional, and those found to be tainting its good name should themselves have their names dragged through the mud and achievements mocked.

It was for many years that the only high profile Elk in golf was the Australian major champion Steve Elkington, now there is one very high profile Elk/Deer that could have a much greater impact on the game than the controversially outspoken PGA Champion ever did. And it has to be eliminated from the game.