Consistency has been the hallmark of Australian Robert Allenby’s impressive career
ever since he announced his arrival to the golfing world with a victory in the 1991
Victorian Open as an amateur, a win that prompted him to turn professional almost
immediately.
A year later he had been named Rookie of the Year, not surprising since he led the
money list in his debut season with two tournament wins in his native Australia. Since
then he has added a further eight wins on the Australasian Tour, four European Tour titles
and four victories on the PGA Tour.
His three top-10 finishes in 2009 included a tied second at one of the World Golf
Championship events, the Bridgestone Invitational, where he shot four rounds in the 60s to
finish level with Padraig Harrington behind multiple winner Tiger Woods.
Early in the season, he confirmed his liking for the Honda Classic, recording his third
consecutive top-five finish in that event and, in so doing, recorded a very public tribute
to his mother, Sylvia, who had passed away a month earlier after battling cancer for a
number of years. Allenby’s pink shirt, worn during Sunday’s final round, was his
special way of paying his respects.
That tournament also tied him with Tiger Woods for the record of 30 consecutive cuts
made on tour, following up his incredible form of 2008 when, after missing the cut in his
very first event of the year – the Sony Open in Hawaii – he did not miss another
cut in the 27 tournaments he entered, posting personal best performances in money-list
position, earnings and top-10 finishes for a single year.
His most famous victory, and a clear indication of his determined fighting qualities,
came at the Nissan Open in 2001, when he went head-to-head with five other players in a
sudden death playoff at the fabled Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles. In driving rain,
Allenby hit a 3-wood second shot on the first playoff hole to within a few feet and holed
the putt for a birdie three to win.
Amazingly, his first two victories on the PGA tour, both in the previous year, had also
come via playoffs – at the Shell Houston Open and at the Western Open over Craig
Stadler and Nick Price respectively – and contenders for this year’s Nedbank
Golf Challenge title should be warned: if they are tied with Allenby after regulation
play, their chances of victory are slim. The Australian boasts an extraordinary record of
10 wins in 11 playoffs in professional golf.
His fighting spirit was no better demonstrated than in 1996 when, campaigning on the
European Tour, he suffered a broken sternum and multiple facial injuries in a car accident
in Spain. He was unable to complete the tour that year as a result, but still finished
third on the European Order of Merit. In 2001, he was presented with the Ben Hogan Award
by the Golf Writers’ Association of America for his courage in coming back from the
debilitating injuries.
Allenby has been a regular qualifier for the Presidents Cup International team, having
recently competed in his fifth, is a patron and spokesperson for the Challenge Cancer
Support Network and will be making his third appearance at the Nedbank Golf Challenge,
having previously appeared in 2002 and 2003. | 
