It was a doomed event from the start for Robert Allenby.
The professional golfer whose self-reporting on being kidnapped, beaten and robbed in Honolulu on Jan. 16 has taken on a life of its own, went on the offensive during a news conference Tuesday at the Waste Management Open in Phoenix.
Huge holes exist in Robert Allenby's story that he was kidnapped, beaten and robbed in Honolulu
Allenby lashed out at the media, which uncovered multiple inconsistencies in his original story to the Golf Channel - along with a selfie of his beaten face.
"I never lied to anyone," charged Allenby, according to the Golf Channel, about the incident that took place after he missed the cut at the Sony Open.
"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.
"I take full responsibility if I did do something wrong. I have no problem in the world in owning up to if I did do something wrong. ... I realized that I don't have any friends in the media. Maybe one. That's it."
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Allenby's remarks did not sit well with the media.
"Maybe he's right," Yahoo! Sports commented. "Maybe he was a victim. Maybe something bad did happen to him. But to expect a story with gaping holes to be accepted as gospel is to completely misunderstand how the public responds to an unsolved crime."
Yahoo! Sports added that Allenby has failed to notice that the media has attempted to piece together what he has not been able to remember about that night.
Even the Golf Channel took issue with Allenby's comments.
"On Jan. 18, two days after the incident, he went on national television and told the story of his 'kidnapping.' There was no blaming the media when he was using them to absolve himself of any wrongdoing.
"And on Tuesday, he called a news conference for himself. It wasn't mandatory. He scheduled this news conference to, in part, antagonize the media for doing its job - reporting the story of what might have happened that Friday night."
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