Former trainer 'very surprised' by Singh admission

• By Ryan Lavner
• Jan 31, 2013 10:30 AM ET

The trainer who worked with Vijay Singh during his most successful run said Thursday on “Morning Drive” that he was “very surprised” the 49-year-old Hall of Famer was using a banned substance.

“Drug testing was put in place to create fairness amongst the field,” said Joey Diovisalvi, who worked for seven years with Singh, until 2007. “What makes me really upset was that we had a wonderful relationship and a lot of success together, which was built on hard work and a lot of trial and error.”

Singh won 22 times after he turned 40 and ascended to No. 1 in the world in 2004. Though the three-time major champion hasn’t won since 2008, his $67.2 million in earnings ranks him third on the career money list, behind only Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. 

During their time together, Diovisalvi said Singh, who turns 50 next month, would only take vitamins with his morning oatmeal and was a “apple guy, not somebody who ate a lot on the course. He wasn’t into bars and shakes.”

“Vijay using this product, I was very taken aback by the fact that when he looked at the ingredients, he didn’t see anything that kind of crated some red flags,” Diovisalvi said. “I knew that before I started working with him, the guy had the most serious work ethic I’ve ever seen.

“But what I do think that I saw was that the long-term effect of hitting thousands and thousands of balls, he’s been in a lot of pain for a long time. … I wish somebody would have said, ‘Let’s go a little further and talk to the Tour and see if this is really something we can use or not.’

“We’re all in the pursuit as we age to maintain the opportunity and integrity of our bodies to perform. I’m really surprised and disappointed for Vijay.”