Vijay Singh under scrutiny for using deer antler spray

The PGA Tour, while the golf world was engrossed in last week’s U.S. Open, asked a New York state court to dismiss Vijay Singh’s deer antler spray lawsuit against the professional players’ association.

The tour filed its request on June 12, saying it “conducted itself reasonably and responsibly” in its treatment of Singh, according to BloombergBusinessweek. Singh, whom the tour eventually cleared of any wrongdoing for using the deer essence, which contained a formerly banned substance, sued Tim Finchem’s unit on May 8 for “reckless administration and implementation” of its drug program.

Vijay Singh has received far more brickbats than bouquets for his starring role as the wronged plaintiff in “Vijay Singh v. PGA Tour Inc.,” the doping-related lawsuit he filed on Wednesday against the golf association. Several players have voiced less-than-positive reviews of the three-time major champion’s lawsuit, which he brought on the eve of the tour’s flagship event, The Players Championship.

Singh’s suit claimed the tour ruined his reputation by privately disciplining him for his admitted use of deer antler spray. Tour officials eventually lifted the sanction when the World Anti-Doping Agency removed an ingredient found in the deer essence from its banned-substance list.

Vijay Singh has sued the PGA Tour for tarnishing his reputation over his admitted use of deer antler spray.

Tour officials sanctioned Singh for ingesting a compound that appeared to include a banned substance and then exonerated him after the World Anti-Doping Agency deemed the ingredient to be okay. Singh charged the Tour, in a suit filed in the Supreme Court of the State of New York on Wednesday with “violating its duty of care and good faith,” according to a statement from attorney Peter Ginsberg. As Steve DiMeglio notes, Ginsberg is the same attorney who represented Jonathan Vilma in the Saints bounty case.

The wait regarding Vijay Singh’s future on the PGA Tour is over. PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem announced Tuesday afternoon that no sanctions will be filed against Singh despite having admitted to using a banned substance -- deer antler spray -- on tour.

The announcement came during a press conference prior to this week’s Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow. The Golf Channel’s Jason Sobel summed up the lengthy declaration on Twitter shortly after Finchem left the podium.

Vijay Singh is still listed as a participant in the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, despite withdrawing from last week’s WM Phoenix Open. So how great would it be if the admitted user of a certain deer extract were paired with a “celebrity” who goes by the name of Gary Mule Deer?

Mule Deer (born Gary Miller, according to Wikipedia -- so you know it’s true), a comedian and country singer, is among the 30 not-so-much A-listers who’ll play in this year’s -am portion of the tournament.

If you can’t wait to watch Vijay Singh get the full “Saturday Night Live” treatment, there are always the comic stylings of Lee Westwood, who said Thursday he believed deer antler spray was a car wax.

“Deer antler spray? It sounds like something you’d wax your car with,” Westwood told Bernie McGuire following the first round of the Dubai Desert Classic. “I’ve never heard of it.”

Vijay Singh, in the middle of a brewing doping scandal, has withdrawn from this week’s Phoenix Open.

Singh, who has admitted taking a substance banned by the PGA Tour, could be sidelined for an extended period if tour officials decide to suspend the 49-year-old for violating the organization’s drug policy. Tom Pernice Jr., a close confidant of the 34-time tour winner, said Thursday that his friend quit the tourney because he threw his back out.

Bubba Watson has no idea what deer antler spray is but he knows he wants nothing to do with it and wonders about the mental health of anyone who would use the illicit substance.

The reigning Masters champ walked off the TPC Scottsdale course after Wednesday’s pro-am and into a media maelstrom involving fellow Phoenix Open competitor Vijay Singh and his admitted use of the product, which is on the PGA Tour’s banned-drug list.

Vijay Singh was “absolutely shocked” to learn that the deer antler spray he fully admitted using was a banned substance.

“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,” Singh said in a statement issued by the tour on Wednesday. “In fact, when I first received the product, I reviewed the list of ingredients and did not see any prohibited substances.

The PGA Tour is reportedly investigating Vijay Singh’s application of the same banned substance that Baltimore Ravens star Ray Lewis has denied using.

A recent Sports Illustrated report named Singh, Lewis, and several other athletes as users of deer antler spray from a company called Sports With Alternatives to Steroids (SWATS). The extract contains IGF-1 (Insulin-like Growth Factor), which SI described as a “natural, anabolic hormone that stimulates muscle growth,” and which is banned by professional sports organizations, including the PGA Tour.