Allenby sticks by story, scolds media in bizarre news conference
Robert Allenby convened a news conference on Tuesday at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, then pretty much used the opportunity to scold the media for trying to fill in the details of a story that two hours of which the Aussie golfer said he cannot recall.
"I became a victim and now it's all been turned around," Allenby said. "I understand how the media works."
The 43-year-old is right: He was a victim, robbed of his credit cards by at least one person, with those cards used to rack up some $25,000 in fraudlent charges. That shouldn't be forgotten.
However, the details of what precipitated and followed that crime are the subject of conjecture and unclear from the public accounts of at least five people who interacted with Allenby after he missed the cut Jan. 16 at the Sony Open in Hawaii.
Allenby has remained consistent in his telling, cobbled together from his memory and what homeless woman Charade Keane, who is consistently credited with helping Allenby, shared with him. Here it is:
Allenby went to Amuse Wine Bar in Waikiki Beach with two friends, including caddie Mick Middlemo, after dinner that Friday night. Middlemo left to go to another establishment, where Allenby and his other friend were to meet. The friend and Allenby got separated. Allenby signed for his check at 10:48 p.m. and left Amuse. As he turned the corner, he remembers getting hit, then waking up in a park. He believes he was taken by up to three assailants into an underground parking garage, beaten, robbed and thrown into the trunk of a car. The golfer said he woke up in a park, 6 miles from the wine bar, to two homeless men kicking him. He then said Keane helped extricate him from the situation with the help of a yet-to-be-identified retired military man and put in a taxi back to his hotel.
On Tuesday, Allenby assessed the time from the crack in the face to waking up in the park as ranging from 11:06 p.m. on Friday to 1:27 a.m. on Saturday.
"From about 11:06 to 1:27 a.m., I have no memory in my brain. I have nothing," Allenby said Tuesday. "I can't tell you how frustrating that is because we all want to know the truth."
Keane has since said she didn't tell Allenby he was thrown from a car and that she didn't find him in a park, but rather around the corner from Amuse Wine Bar. She did concur two homeless men were in an argument with Allenby. She assessed they were agitated and aggressive with him, so she helped him out of the situation.
The two homeless men, Toa Kaili and Chris Khamis, have spoken and said they saw Allenby twice that night. At around 1:30 a.m., the men claim, they saw Allenby passed out near the wine bar and tried to help him gather himself. When Allenby was agitated by the men, Kaili left and Khamis remained. As Khamis was turning to find a cab for Allenby, Khamis said Allenby passed out and injured himself on a lava rock. Khamis added Allenby also told him he had been to a strip club earlier in the night.
Golf Channel has done additional digging into the story, backing up Khamis' claim Allenby had been to a strip club. The reporting also has Allenby in Amuse Wine Bar talking to three people, though it is unclear who those people are and what role, if any, they had in Allenby losing his credit cards.
For his part, Allenby said he doesn't know the people he saw in security-camera footage.
"I never met them in my life," he said. "I only saw them on surveillance."
Those people are the most important related to the case. They likely hold all the details to round out what happened to Allenby and in figuring out who should be charged with a robbery.
If the three people in question, or someone else, drugged Allenby as he believes, the golfer isn't saying. He did admit at the end of his news conference that he did take a drug test, but would not reveal the results.
From start to finish, Allenby was visibly angry that any media member doubted his story or did additional digging into it.
"The media have decided that they are the most amazing experts at investigations," he said. "There's a reason why detectives in Honolulu are some of the best in the world. I'd really appreciate it if maybe we can let them do their job."
Allenby said he expects something will be reported soon on what the police have found. In the meantime, Allenby will tee it up this week at TPC Scottsdale, potentially subjecting himself to a barrage of hecklers who are likely as skeptical of aspects of his story as the media the golfer wagged his finger at on Tuesday.
Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.
