Before Golf Twitter became a ‘thing’, Robert Allenby created his own headlines when, one morning in January 2015, we woke up to a photo of a beaten, bloodied Australian star, taken by reporters from his Facebook feed.

The then 43-year-old posted a story that after missing the cut at the Sony Open, someone had spiked his drink when out in Hawaii, and he had awoken in a park, having been assaulted and robbed.

Allenby claimed a homeless woman had discovered him, but she later denied the claim, as did his then-caddie Mick Middlemo, who felt his charge had fallen over and hit his head.

The rumor mill started and talk was of the golfer spending a few hours at a strip club, reports that were unsubstantiated and then removed from the Golf Channel website.

However, they left their mark.

Allenby says, “That definitely ruined the character of Robert Allenby. Mentally, that really hurt me a lot.”

The then lead investigator of the Honolulu Police Department John McCarthy confirmed with the club’s manager that Allenby had not been at the club. “I think those reports were really unfair. He got a bad deal.”

Years later, the four-time PGA Tour winner opened up to Golf Digest about his life since that fateful day, suggesting that, “I didn’t want to be in public and have to deal with people saying negative things about me. I lost confidence in my golf. I lost confidence in myself. I struggled as a human.”

Whilst a man was arrested and convicted of credit card fraud, the golfer has never pressed charges for assault.

“We know he fell or tripped and hit his head. We matched things up with what people told us and his injuries, plus the rock,” McCarthy told Golf Digest. “He said he was assaulted, but we just don’t know for sure. He could have been assaulted. He could have been hit from behind while walking down Kapiolani Boulevard or pushed or shoved, and then they took his wallet. You can tell when someone is lying, and (he) wasn’t lying. Let’s put it this way – it’s greater than 50-50 that he was assaulted, but we can’t prove that.”

The mystery of the homeless woman has never been solved, and Allenby says the reports mis-represented his words. He told the magazine, “I’m not embarrassed about it, I didn’t say I was thrown out of the trunk of a car. I said I was told I was thrown out of the trunk of the car. A reporter said, ‘It sounds like the movie ‘Taken,’ and I said, ‘Yes, it does.’ Agreeing with him and what the homeless lady said to me compounded the story.”

The last few years have taken their toll, with Allenby going on to anti-depressants and seeking psychiatric help.

From a place within the top-30 of the world’s best players, the two-time WGC runner-up quickly slid outside the top-100, then 500, and finally off the face of the planet as far as golf rankings are concerned.

However, seven years later and according to the report, Allenby is now back and content with his lot. Spending time at Admirals Cove, Jupiter, he is now past the qualifying age for the Champions Tour, and told the magazine that, “The chance to go out there and compete again is pretty cool. There aren’t many jobs that offer you a second chance.”

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