Former World No. 1 Vijay Singh has withdrawn from the Phoenix Open, a day after admitting he used a banned substance – Deer Antler Spray.

It’s a genuine blow for the event given Singh is a former two-time champion having won in 1995 and 2003 and also finished as high as a share of third place two years ago.

But then to obviously avoid any controversy Singh cited a back injury in pulling out Thursday before the first round when he was due to tee up alongside American Ryan Moore and Sweden’s Carl Pettersson.

Former two-time Phoenix Open champion Vijah Singh withdraws from the event sighting a shoulder injury but with the golf world knowning he’s not prepared to handle any ‘Deer Antler Spray’ controversy questions.

The 49-year-old Fijian first revealed he used the spray in an interview with Sports Illustrated.

The magazine said Singh paid one of Sports With Alternatives To Steroids’ owners $9,000 last November for the spray, hologram chips and other products. The deer-antler substance contains a banned performance-enhancer connected to human growth hormone.

Singh released a statement Wednesday at the Phoenix Open, saying: “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.”

PGA Tour spokesman Ty Votaw says the tour is “looking into the matter.”