The dramatic story behind Open star and former biker gang member's five-year prison spell for brutal attack on rival
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RYAN PEAKE was just completing a five-year jail sentence for a brutal assault the last time The Open was played at Portrush.
Now, incredibly, the former biker gang member is one of the players battling for the Claret Jug this week.
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Ryan Peake will be playing at The Open at Portrush
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He won the New Zealand Open back in March
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He was previously a member of a biker gang
Credit: Instagram @ryanpeakegolf
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He was jailed in 2014 after attacking a rival gangster
Credit: Instagram @ryanpeakegolf
Peake, 31, was jailed at the end of 2014 after an attack on a rival gangster that left the victim with a fractured skull and two broken arms.
Then just 19, the Australian was joined by at least two other men from Perth-based biker club The Rebels in the assault.
He has always refused to reveal who else was involved and was the only one charged with the crime.
One of them was armed with a baseball bat - with Peake saying that was because they had been warned their target was armed - and had been making threats towards The Rebels.
Speaking yesterday at Portrush, Peake said: 'He was doing some bad things and we had knowledge of that - and then he made some pretty heinous threats towards us as well.
'So we just went to deal with it and honestly it wasn't meant to happen like that.
'We were genuinely just going there for a chat, he was probably going to get a couple of punches along the way, and it would have been left at that.
'That sounds harsh, but this person lived the same lifestyle as us. The only way you can get through is to speak that language.
'It just happened to be that the threats that he made towards us were true, and he was armed. It escalated from there. That's it
'I'm not saying it's right that I've gone and beat someone up. But I haven't gone and beat up your dad.'
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Peake delivered the first kick and The Rebels rained blows on their victim.
A few weeks later, three unmarked police cars turned up in the car park of the Lakelands Golf Club - where Peake helped out his greenkeeper dad - to arrest him.
He was already a professional golfer by then.
But after a stellar amateur career - where he represented Australia in junior tournaments alongside 2022 Open champion Cameron Smith - he became disillusioned with the game, and decided he loved the "camaraderie" of the local biker gang.
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Peake has turned his life around since being behind bars
Credit: Instagram @ryanpeakegolf
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He gave golf another go after serving his time
Credit: Instagram @ryanpeakegolf
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His win in New Zealand landed him a spot at The Open
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Peake grew up playing alongside 2022 Open champ Cameron Smith
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And despite admitting he found prison life tough, he shows little signs of remorse for the crime that led to him being locked up.
He added: 'Jail was bad, real bad.
'Strip naked, take a shower in front of the guards and then you're crammed into a tiny box with two other guys.
'When they turned out the light that first night I thought to myself 'What the hell have you gotten yourself into?'
'But if you don't like the accommodation, don't make the reservation.
'Look, I did something bad, I've owned it and tried to move on.
'I've turned my life around, but I don't want to be looked at as some kind of role model or superhero. I just want to look to the future rather than the past.
'But I don't hide away from my past. It happened and the best thing I can do is to be honest about it.
Strip naked, take a shower in front of the guards and then you're crammed into a tiny box with two other guys.
Ryan Peake
'If people want to know how it happened, I try to give them an insight into what my life was like back then.'
When Peake was coming to the end of his jail sentence he was contacted by his former coach Ritchie Smith, who asked him if he wanted to give golf another shot.
Smith, who has guided Minjee Lee to three Major titles and also coaches her younger brother PGA Tour winner Min Woo Lee, describes Peake as 'a real talent'.
He said: 'I had lost touch with Peakey after he left golf and didn't know what happened to him. That's not the person I knew.
'I called because I was genuinely worried about him. He's a good kid. He just f***ed up.'
Even without his criminal record, Peake would not resemble the average golfer. He is heavily muscled and even more heavily tattooed.
But he showed he could still hit a ball by striping it on the range in front of Smith, and then shot 66 in his first round back at Lakelands.
After working his way through the mini tours, he hit the jackpot in March, winning the New Zealand Open - a victory that earned him a place in The Open line-up.
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He must get special permission to travel outside Australia
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He described his New Zealand Open win as 'life-changing'
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The 153rd Open Championship will take place at Royal Portrush
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He also proposed to his girlfriend that week on a helicopter ride around Queenstown - she said yes - so it is a week he will never forget.
Travelling abroad can be difficult for ex-convicts. But flying to Northern Ireland to join pals Smith and Lee at Portrush presented no problems for Peake, because he holds a British passpost.
He added: 'I've got that passport because my dad was born in England and his family moved to Australia when he was about three.
'I don't know which part of England, but he's still got family there and my parents have been catching up with some aunts and uncles and whatnot before they fly from London over here.
'My record does cause some problems, and we have to jump through a few more hoops than most people when it comes to getting visas.
'My manager is three for three so far, and hopefully he'll keep up that strike rate.
'But just because I'm in The Open, it doesn't mean I feel I've made it now.
'I'm not there yet, not where I want to be. The first goal this week is to make the cut, play my game and see where it takes me.
'That applies to the future too. I've got my card to play over here on the DP World Tour by finishing second on the money list back home, and now I just want people to accept me for who I am.'
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Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 10 Peter Falconio's parents' hopes of finding his body have faded after killer Bradley Murdoch, above, died, seemingly taking the secret to his grave Credit: Getty 10 Peter Falconio and Joanne Lees in the Australian Outback in 2001 - a trip from which the British man would never return 10 The scene of a police re-enactment of Peter's murder and the attempted abduction of Joanne near Barrow Creek, Central Australia, in July 2001 Credit: AP:Associated Press Heartbroken Luciano and Joan Falconio just want to lay Peter to rest back home in Huddersfield, West Yorks, where he belongs. Instead, they bear the pain of knowing he is likely buried in an unknown spot, amid a 1,200 square mile area of Australia's vast and largely uncharted Outback. Speaking from their home yesterday following Murdoch's death from throat cancer, Luciano, 83, who has three other sons, said: 'He's gone now. "I don't feel any sadness or hate, I am a generous person. But he should have admitted his crime. 'He is the only one who knows where my son is. 'I don't think he will have shared anything with police, but he may have told someone. I really hope so.' Luciano added: 'I am in pain for my wife. I hope I find my son, for both of us. We need an end while we are still here.' Finding Peter's body would not only help bring peace to his parents. It would also end two decades of speculation about his murder. Ever since his girlfriend Joanne Lees told police in Australia's Northern Territory how she was tied up after Peter, 28, was shot in the head on the Stuart Highway near remote Barrow Creek in 2001, this case has generated controversy. 'Weight's been lifted' The calm demeanour of Joanne, now 51, when she spoke to officers led some people to suspect she had somehow been involved in her boyfriend's death. 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Police, prosecutors, the jury, Peter's parents and many others who had the misfortune of crossing paths with Murdoch have no doubt that he was guilty of the British man's slaying, regardless of what he claimed. Luciano and Joan Falconio made their feelings clear when they said last night: 'Upon hearing that Bradley John Murdoch had died, our first feeling was of relief. It's like a weight that's been lifted.' Born in Geraldton, north of Perth, Murdoch worked as a mechanic in Broome on the northern coast of Western Australia. Peter and Joanne, who had been touring Australia in a VW Kombi campervan, had the misfortune of being on the same road as Murdoch He was a self-confessed drug smuggler who would put amphetamines into his tea to keep him awake as he transported cannabis long distances across Australia — a move which reportedly made him increasingly paranoid. In 2003, he was cleared of raping a 12-year-old girl, who prosecutors had claimed he abducted with her mother 'for insurance' as cops probing Peter Falconio's murder closed in. Justice for the killing finally caught up with him in 2005. Peter and Joanne, who had been touring Australia in a VW Kombi campervan, had the misfortune of being on the same road as Murdoch north of Alice Springs on July 14, 2001. He flagged Peter down and told him there were sparks coming from the old vehicle, before shooting him dead. 10 Peter and Joanne, who were touring Australia in a 30 year-old VW Kombi campervan, had the misfortune of being on the same road as Murdoch north of Alice Springs Credit: PA 10 After being bound at gunpoint and bundled into Murdoch's truck, Joanne Lees fled into the pitch‑black Outback, hiding for hours before finally flagging down a driver Credit: Getty Images - Getty 10 The VW Kombi camper van belonging to Joanne Lees and Peter Falconio was impounded as evidence Credit: Getty - Pool He tied Joanne up at gunpoint and bundled her into his truck. But she was able to escape into the pitch black Outback, hiding for almost five hours until she flagged down a passing vehicle. Snipers on rooftops Senior Sergeant Erica Gibson, the first police officer to speak to Joanne about the terrifying ordeal, described her as 'absolutely shell-shocked' but not 'hysterical or overtly emotional'. 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