A homeless woman has given a conflicting account of what led to the violent bashing of Australian golfer Robert Allenby in Hawaii.
And police have CCTV footage of a suspect wanted over the attack.
A homeless woman told Nine News in Australia that she found Allenby, 43, “bloodied and confused” and arguing with two men about a block away from the bar where he had been out last Friday night.
She alleged Allenby asked her to use his credit card to withdraw $500 cash to pay his attackers so he could get his wallet back, Nine News reports.
The witness, who has spoken to police, said the men were “quite aggressive” before a man, described as a former soldier, intervened and helped Allenby into a cab back to his hotel.
The station also reports the Honolulu Police Department has CCTV footage of a suspect using Allenby’s credit card to buy two bottles of alcohol at Waikiki.
A bloodied Allenby said the attack was like the plot of a Hollywood movie.
“We’ve all seen these movies, ‘Taken.’ it’s the spitting image of that, really,” Allenby said.
He said he was “still trying to pinpoint whether it was a baseball bat or someone’s fist” that hit him.
Allenby said he believed it was a targeted attack.
“It’s a shame that people get jealous,” Allenby said. “The only good thing is is that I survived.”
Allenby was at AMUSE Wine Bar in Honolulu, when he left his friend to go to the bathroom.
When he returned, a group of people he did not know told him that his friend was waiting for him downstairs in the parking garage.
Allenby then caught the lift down and when he emerged, he claimed he was brutally bashed before being robbed and stuffed in the trunk of a car.
Allenby had previously described being saved by a homeless woman after the attack.
While his recollection of the incident is patchy, Allenby recalled a woman coming to his aid after he was dumped from the car, roughly six miles from where he was abducted.
His recollection of events contradicts what the homeless woman, who said she found Allenby a block away from the bar, has told Nine News and Hawaiian police.
Allenby claimed the homeless woman scared off two other men who were kicking him.
“A homeless lady pretty much saved my life,” Allenby had earlier said.
CCTV apparently shows him surrounded by up to five men, according to reports.
The bizarre ordeal has prompted sympathy but also skepticism from members of the public, with some questioning whether it was a “publicity stunt.”
“I walked around the corner (of the restaurant) and then, bang,” Allenby told Sunrise.
“I’m not really sure what hit me. I’m not sure if it was a fist or a bat. Obviously I’m in a lot of pain. Next minute, I was thrown out of the trunk of a car … and on to the side (of the) street.
“You see a lot of things on movies — I’ve watched ‘Taken’ quite a few times. It kind of felt pretty much the same as that. Very surreal.”
Allenby suffered cuts and bruises to his face. It’s unlikely he will play in the Sony Open tournament this week in Hawaii.