Witness: Allenby fell, injuring himself after trip to strip club
Maybe there was a good reason to be skeptical of Robert Allenby's account of a harrowing night last Friday and early Saturday in Honolulu.
The two homeless men who accosted Allenby, according to the homeless woman the golfer credits with saving his life, have now spoken to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser and offer a very different account of their encounter with the Aussie.
Toa Kaili and Chris Khamis told the paper they came upon Allenby around 1:30 a.m. on Saturday, presuming he was homeless and in need of help.
"I was like, 'Hey brother, you got to wake up because the sidewalk sweepers are going to come. You don't want to get swept up,'" Kaili said to the Star-Advertiser. "So it took him about nine minutes before he got to his senses and when I got him up his feet, I said 'Okay. Check if you got everything on you.' And that's when he noticed, like, 'I don't got my phone or my wallet.'"
Kaili said Allenby eventually grew agitated, so he left, leaving Khamis to help. Khamis said as he was turning around to find a cab for Allenby, the golfer passed out and fell onto a lava rock, injuring himself.
"There was no crime (when I was present). It was his stupidity," Khamis said. "He passed out and hit his head. I was there. Nobody pushed him out of a car."
Khamis, 47, added Allenby had told him before the fall that he had been to a strip club earlier in the night to "get some action."
Allenby's retelling of his night after missing the cut at the Sony Open in Hawaii is significantly different. Allenby said he was at Amuse Wine Bar with two friends, including caddie Mick Middlemo, after dinner when Middlemo left ahead to go to another bar where the group would reconvene. Allenby's other friend disappeared, perhaps to use the restroom. The 43-year-old said he signed his check at 10:48 p.m., turned the corner after leaving the bar with who he believes are three assailants who may have drugged him, then remembers getting hit -- with a bat or fist -- and nothing else. He then said he woke up in a local park some 6 miles from the bar, dealing with a pair of homeless men kicking him. Allenby said Charade Keane, the woman who helped him leave the situation with the then-unnamed pair of Khamis and Kaili, had told him he had been thrown from a car and sustained injuries in the process.
Keane disputes several aspects of Allenby's story, saying she came upon the golfer around the corner from Amuse Wine Bar trying to negotiate with Khamis and Kaili for the return of his belongings. Keane claims Allenby asked her to withdraw $500 using one of his credit cards to pay off the men. When they were unhappy with Allenby's offer or attitude, Keane, with the help of a still-unidentified retired military man, helped Allenby escape the situation.
Allenby has since contacted Keane and was filmed giving Keane a $1,000 gift card as thanks for her help. He withdrew from this week's Humana Challenge on the PGA Tour, citing advice of his doctor.
Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.
