Jimmy Walker is seeking a third straight victory in the Sony Open in Hawaii this week, but Robert Allenby was the initial centre of attention following his own, far less enjoyable, experience last year.
After missing the cut 12 months ago, Allenby was on a night out with his caddie and a friend when he claimed he was kidnapped, robbed and beaten after leaving a wine bar near Waikiki.
The 44-year-old Australian claimed he was then thrown from a car six miles away minus his wallet, mobile phone, cash and credit cards, although he admitted he did not remember the incident and was told about it by a homeless woman.
A month later, police arrested a man for using Allenby's credit cards. In August, the man was sentenced to five years in prison.
"I'm a professional golfer and this is a tournament I love to come to," Allenby told reporters at Waialae Country Club.
"I have been coming here for near 17 years and staying at the same hotel and enjoying the experience there. I'm not going to let one bad occasion ruin such a beautiful place.
"The whole thing (about) coming here is trying to put last year behind me and hopefully come here and play well. And if I don't play well I think I still achieve a lot by coming here.
"There's been a lot of thoughts over the last year; lot of good things, lot of negative things, probably more negative than anything. That was the whole piece of the puzzle in coming here and trying to dilute all the negative stuff.
"Hawaii is such a beautiful place and I also didn't want people to think I was never going to come back here again because of what happened. I don't want that to deter others from coming here because of what happened to me."
On the course, Allenby made just seven cuts in 29 starts in 2015 and is playing this season on an exemption from his place in the top 50 in the career PGA Tour money list.
"I've been working my ass off the last four weeks at home, trying to reconnect with the old swing and old thoughts of how I play this game and how I used to play the game and what made me successful," added Allenby, who has slumped to 600th in the world rankings.
"I lost a lot of confidence in my myself from last year with what happened here. I didn't want to be out in public but I had to be because I had to do my job."
Walker is looking to become the first player since Steve Stricker (John Deere Classic 2009-2011) to win the same event three years running and has a scoring average of 65 over his two wins.
Source: PA
