Vijay Singh Sues PGA Tour Over Doping Allegations

Tags: vijay singh

Vijay Singh is suing the PGA Tour over doping allegations involving deer antler spray.

Singh, a World Golf Hall of fame member and three-time major winner, formally filed suit in the Supreme Court of the State of New York earlier today, the eve of The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass, charging the Tour with violating “it’s duty of care and good faith.”

Those actions, the suit also alleges, “exposed Singh to public humiliation and ridicule for months.” Rumors have long swirled that Singh was facing suspension after he was sanctioned by the Tour upon admitting to use of the substance.   

“We just received the statement," PGA Tour vice president Ty Votaw told USA TODAY Sports. "We will have no comment."

Filed by Peter Ginsburg, the same attorney who represented the NFL’s Jonathan Vilma in the New Orleans bounty case, the suit also asserts Tour officials could have known by conducting basic testing and research that the product Singh sprayed contained no active biological ingredient and could not have provided any performance enhancement.

"The PGA Tour has now finally admitted that the use of deer antler spray is not prohibited," the suit claims. "Rather than performing its duties to golfers first, and then determining whether there had been any violation of the Anti-Doping Program, the PGA Tour rushed to judgment and accused one of the world's hardest working and most dedicated golfers of violating the rules of the game."

In a statement, Singh later added: "I am proud of my achievements, 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."

Singh is scheduled to tee off at Sawgrass at 2 p.m. Thursday. During the investigation, he has played in five tournaments, but his nearly $100,000 in purse earnings has been held in escrow.

Attorneys for Singh also stressed "upon information and belief, the PGA Tour is aware of other golfers who have used the spray but has not attempted to discipline those golfers."

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