This won't play well on the home front, Robert Allenby shredding Australian golf and its fans to the point that even were he to express remorse for having done so (and that doesn't seem likely given the vehemence with which he denounced the homeland), he's made playing there in the future problematic at best and impossible at worst.
In this story in the Australian, Allenby took Australian golf to task for, among other things, a lack of appreciation for what he's done for the game there, and fans' mistreatment of him in part by invoking his mother's death in their verbal abuse. On the latter point alone, his anger seems justified.
Among Allenby's statements:
-- "I'll be playing this game over here (in the U.S.) until I'm 55, but I just don't need to put up with any (bleep) anymore (in Australia)."
-- "I've been very supportive to the Australian Tour in my life but they don't look at it like that. They don't understand what I've actually done for the Australian Tour. There's no kickback towards me so there's no benefit for me. There's no benefit for me going back there and winning all three (Australian Open, Australian Masters and the PGA) tournaments. I don't get anything from it apart from the paychecks and the trophies. In the rest of the world, it doesn't mean anything because the Australian Tour's become like a little pea."
-- "My mum was dying and some of the comments that came out from the drunks at the back of the green towards me were disgusting. Obviously, I broke down on 15 green at the (Australian) Masters. My mum came out and I knew how sick she was. I broke down, I lost it, because I knew she wasn't going to be there for much longer. What they said in Sydney ruined me forever. These drunks yelling, 'That's all right mate, your mummy's not here now, you don't have to cry.'"
-- John Strege
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