Vijay "Shocked" To Learn He Was Using Banned Substance

Guess Vijay Singh hasn't heard of Google either.

His statement following the SI story where he is quoted confessing to using a banned substance was sent out by the PGA Tour:

"In light of the recent article on sportsillustrated.com, I want to issue 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."

SI Writer On Morning Drive: “I’m guessing that Vijay Singh doesn’t know the product has been called out by the PGA Tour specifically.”

I was a tad skeptical of Vijay Singh's admission to using deer antler spray from his friends at S.W.A.T.S.  But after listening to SI's very credible and thorough David Epstein on Morning Drive for ten minutes, it's going to be very hard for Singh to claim a context issue. Especially when the writer has seen the big check Singh wrote for the products! (Uh Veej, pay cash next time big guy, you have plenty of it.)

Ryan Lavner summarized the Espstein interview and noted this:

Asked if he thought Singh knew he was taking a banned substance because of how forthcoming he was in discussing the products, Epstein said, “It makes me think that he probably didn’t know that. It would be a little strange because the guys in the company are usually very upfront that their products are banned by major sports organizations, but they can be a little equivocal about why it’s banned sometimes. But a quick Google (search) would tell anyone it’s banned.

“I’m guessing that Vijay Singh doesn’t know the product has been called out by the PGA Tour specifically.”

Check out the Epstein interview with Morning Drive here:

Rex Hoggard contacted the PGA Tour for comment.

“We were just made aware of the report and are looking into it,” said Ty Votaw, the Tour’s vice president of communication and international affairs.

Votaw declined to comment on whether Tour officials had spoken with the Fijian, who is in the field at this week’s Waste Management Phoenix Open

Tim Clark, Lead Anchoring Ban Victim Advocate

Doug Ferguson tells the tale of Tim Clark's apparently impressive appearance at the PGA Tour non-mandatory mandatory player meeting held at Torrey Pines last week.

Geoff Ogilvy had this to say about Clark's questions and comments of USGA officials Mike Davis and Glenn Nager, comments which players generally refused to elaborate to Ferguson about:

"He's been researching this the whole offseason," Ogilvy said. "He basically put his position out there, and probably positions that Mike hadn't thought about or didn't acknowledge as importantly as Tim saw them.

"What Tim did achieve ... whether he had any effect on the USGA position, a big portion of the ambivalent people were on Tim's side when they walked out of the room."

Tiger And The Stock Market, Redux

Nice post by Sam Weinman on the bizarro parallel lines between Tiger winning and the stock market's performance.

Buy, buy, buy!

A coincidence? Probably. But as Gary Kaminsky, the Capital Markets Editor for CNBC, said, "If you want to draw some conclusions, stock market participants who are avid golf fans become more aggressive and optimistic in thinking about their investments when Tiger wins a tournament."

Of course, as Kaminsky noted, the Nasdaq's rapid rise was more attributable to enthusiasm around tech stocks than it was Woods' superior ball-striking and clutch putting. But what's interesting is that the pattern has continued into this more unpredictable phase of Woods' career.

"All you need is one good shot with these clubs and you're hooked."

Rodney Page of the Tampa Bay Times reports on the National U.S. Pro Hickory Golf Championship.

The only professional hickory tournament was played at Temple Terrace Golf and Country Club last week.

"It appeals to a person with an historical sense of the game," said Mike Stevens, tournament director and head professional at MacDill Golf Course in Tampa. "It's how the game was originally played in this country, with wooden shafts and on older golf courses."

Paolo Quirici, a 45-year-old club professional and former PGA Europe player from Lugano, Switzerland, shot the low round of the day, 2-over-par 74. He beat out Richard Bullock and John McCann by one shot.

Quirici has been playing with the hickory clubs since September. He is in Florida for the PGA Merchandise show in Orlando and found out about the tournament through an Internet search.

The search paid off when he won the $1,500 first prize. The tournament had a $5,000 purse, the same amount offered at the 1925 Florida Open played at Temple Terrace.

A video feature accompanied the story as well:

Flashback: CBS President Doesn't Mind Slow Play

Just in case you were shedding a tear for CBS, who mandated a late re-start Monday and then saw a glacial pace send the Farmers Insurance Open more than 30 minutes past the planned conclusion, remember what CBS Sports President Sean McManus told Ed Sherman last August:

I’m not terribly concerned about it. Having watched a lot of golf this year, I know (slow play) has been a topic of discussion. But I haven’t seen it affect too many of the broadcasts. If they play slow because of the course conditions being tough at Kiawah, it adds to the drama.

And as many of you noted yesterday, when they play slow because they are slow, it drains drama right out of the telecast.

Anchoring Ban Polling: Ban And Ban It ASAP

We've had some nice response numbers for various anchoring polls and while those on this site would never be called scientific, they are nonetheless revealing. With last week's prior to the PGA Tour player meeting, I thought it'd be worth revisiting the various polls.

Golfdatatech found that 60% of golfers support the ban.

In one GeoffShackelford.com poll before the anchoring ban announcement, 69% were in favor of anchoring from 974 votes. 

The number slightly dropped to 65% of 1,346 votes after the proposed 14-1b announcement.

And you may recall way back when asking about the possible rule change, bifurcation was on the polling table and 31% of 605 votes were for bifurcation.

When the question was posed about timing of the anchoring ban, 41% of 723 votes were for an October 2013 start (when the 2013-'14 season starts). 31% were for bifurcation, presumably to let average golfers to anchor while pros lost the privilege.

And last week 80% of you out of over 500 votes were in favor of a ban applying to the PGA Tour, with a 2013-14 start for Tour play edging 2016 43% to 37%.

Just based on these numbers, it's hard to see how the governing bodies come out of the "comment period" without solid feedback to reiterate their stance. I'm sure Nate Silver has a word for this, but I'm not far enough along in his book to tell you what it is!