31 Jan 2013

Sir Bob Charles admits he probably took banned substance

6:11 pm on 31 January 2013

The golfing icon Sir Bob Charles is trying to come to terms with his career possibly having been tainted by a drugs scandal.

The Fijian golfer Vijay Singh has admitted using a deer velvet spray which contains a muscle growth hormone call IGF-1 and is on the US PGA's banned drug list.

The PGA is now investigating the matter.

Sir Bob who was the first left hander to win a major title, when he won the 1963 British Open finished playing regularly on the USPGA in 2010, two years after the PGA introduced a drug testing programme.

He says he's been taking deer velvet for general health for the past 20 years and admits he's probably breached the sport's banned substances policy too, not realising the product contained growth hormone.

Sir Bob says he will contacting his deer velvet suppliers to find out exactly what's in the product but won't be going to the PGA about the matter and won't be relinquishing any titles, the last of which he won on the senior Champions Tour in 2010.