Robert Allenby out of Canadian Open after split with caddie

Australia`s Robert Allenby has withdrawn from the US PGA Tour Canadian Open after a bust-up with his caddie saw him finish Thursday`s first round with a fan carrying his bag.

Allenby carded a nine-over par 81 on Thursday, when his round was punctuated by a heated dispute with caddie Mick Middlemo.

Middlemo said he walked off the Glen Abbey course after a series of "personal insults" from the 44-year-old player.

The two argued over club selection after Allenby made a triple bogey at the par-five 13th hole on Thursday.

Allenby told SCOREGolf.com that such disagreements with Middlemo had become common.

"I said to him, `You know, this happens every week. This has happened for, like, the last three or four or five months. We keep making bad mistakes and you`re not helping me in these circumstances,`" the player said.

"And he just lost the plot at me," Allenby added. "He got right in my face as if he wanted to just beat me up.

"I said `Stop being a such and such and calm down and get back into the game,`" Allenby added. "And he just got even closer and closer, and I just said, `That`s it, you`re sacked.`"

Middlemo agreed with much of Allenby`s account, although the caddie disputed that they discussed whether to use a seven-iron or eight-iron at the 13th, but in fact only spoke about waiting for the wind to die down before hitting the eight iron.

"He came up 10 meters short of the front of the green," Middlemo said. "He hit a bad shot."

The caddie said Allenby`s subsequent personal attack on him amounted to bullying.

"I can take it if you call me the worst caddie in the world, tell me I`m horrible at picking clubs, but there`s a line you just can`t cross," he said.

"He likes to bully caddies," Middlemo told FoxSports.com. "You couldn`t get away with that in any workplace in the world, but somehow he thinks it`s appropriate on a golf course."

It`s not the first time this year that Allenby has made headlines. After missing the cut at the Sony Open in January he said he was beaten and robbed after dinner out with friends in Hawaii.

Allenby said he was kidnapped, beaten and robbed and had no memory of the two hours before a homeless person came to his aid in a park.