WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Former British Open winner Bob Charles of New Zealand says he used and promoted a banned deer-antler spray for more than 20 years and is surprised to learn it contains a substance that violates golf’s doping protocols.
The 1963 Open winner was a spokesman for the deer-antler product and used it daily over two decades.
He said he was “totally unaware of illegal substances … being in the horn or the antler of the deer. I take one or two deer velvet capsules daily and have been doing so for virtually 20 years or more.”
Fiji golfer Vijay Singh is currently under investigation after admitting to using the spray, which contains the banned muscle growth hormone IGF-1.
