Robert Allenby says he has no recollection of a two-hour span during which he was allegedly assaulted, kidnapped and robbed. But he insists that his injuries, including multiple facial abrasions, were suffered at the hands of an unknown assailant and not via his own drunken stupor.
Allenby told police he was kidnapped, robbed, beaten and thrown from the trunk of a car after leaving a Honolulu wine bar late Jan. 16, suffering serious facial injuries. His account has unraveled since, however, as police and media outlets have interviewed witnesses who tell a tale to the contrary, alleging that Allenby was severely intoxicated and incurred his injuries while in a drunken state.
MORE: Allenby kidnapped, beaten, robbed | Allenby insists his story is true
The Australian PGA Tour pro addressed the media about the bizarre saga Tuesday during a press conference in advance of the Waste Management Phoenix Open. Although he claims to have no memory from 11:06 p.m. to 1:27 a.m the night of the supposed attack, Allenby chastised the media for its coverage and maintained that he is the victim in the ordeal.
“I never lied to anyone,” Allenby insisted. “I only told you what I knew and what someone had told me. That is the bottom line. From that, obviously the media have decided that they are the most amazing experts at investigations. There is a reason why detectives in Honolulu are some of the best in the world.
"I think I'd really appreciate if we just let them do their job and maybe we could get to the bottom of it. But I think also what has been blown out of proportion a little bit is I was a victim, and all of a sudden you're putting all the blame on me."
It should be noted that Honolulu authorities elected not to investigate the assault or kidnapping allegations. Instead, police are conducting a robbery investigation based on Allenby's claims that more than $20,000 in purchases has been charged to his credit card.
A report by GolfChannel.com earlier this week further discredited his account that he was attacked.
Witnesses interviewed for the report said that Allenby's night unfolded differently upon leaving the wine bar Amuse, where he was having dinner with his caddie and another friend. They left around 11:06 p.m., according to the report, and a few minutes later, somebody used Allenby's credit card to purchase two bottles of tequila at a nearby liquor store. (Allenby claims that there has since been a $20,000 bill run up on that card.)
Twenty minutes after leaving the restaurant, two homeless men found Allenby passed out on a corner 100 yards away, the report said. Allenby was next spotted at an adult entertainment club with "a group of friends," where they reportedly ran up a $3,400 bar tab. The same homeless men then said they again found Allenby passed out around 1 a.m. about 50 feet from where they first found him, when he supposedly fell face-first onto a rock.
The report said Allenby was helped into a cab by a homeless woman around 1:27 a.m., thus concluding his wild evening.
Allenby has disputed the entire report.
"You can't go from being perfect to being in the position I was in," Allenby told Golf Channel two days after the attack. "If I was drunk, why didn't I ever wake up? It doesn't make sense."