Robert Allenby spent two weeks working hard in the gym and on the golf course to get ready for the final major championship of the year. A harmless fishing trip and a fluke accident will keep him from playing at all.
Allenby said Wednesday he tore ligaments in his right knee when he slipped on the deck of his boat during a fishing trip to the Bahamas, and he will be out for at least three weeks.
He withdrew from the Bridgestone Invitational and will not be able to compete next week in the PGA Championship.
"I was so ready to go," Allenby said from his home in Jupiter, Fla. "I had two weeks of working out at home, pounding it in the gym, pounding golf balls ... and bang! Just a day of fishing. I thought that would be nice, get some lobster on the way home. Very depressing."
Allenby said it was late afternoon when he stepped onto the deck and hit a wet spot, sending his legs in different directions. He figured he hyperexended his knee, but when he had a hard time walking, went to the doctor on Monday for further tests.
He had arthroscopic surgery Tuesday to repair his medial collateral ligaments.
Doctors told Allenby, who is No. 14 in the world ranking, that he should be fully healed in time for The Barclays, which starts Aug. 24 as the first tournament in the FedEx Cup playoffs.
The only bright spot was that the ligaments were in his right knee. For a right-handed golfer, the left knee bears most of the weight.
Allenby won consecutive weeks in South Africa and Australia at the end of the year, and was runner-up by one shot this year at the Sony Open and The Players Championship.
The good news? At least he caught some fish.
"And now I've got three weeks to cook it," he said.
