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Tom Pernice Jr.'s alleged behavior sounds chillingly familiar, and speaks to why domestic violence persists

Warning: This column contains depictions of alleged domestic violence.

Abusers are abusive for control.

They can be emotionally abusive, verbally abusive, and physically abusive.

Often those three things happen in concert: An abuser will strike their victim, including name-calling or putdowns, and then tell them "look what you made me do" or "I wouldn't have done that if you hadn't done what you did."

Or, in the case alleged against PGA Tour golfer Tom Pernice Jr., they flat-out deny that their physical strikes are abuse.

On Wednesday, Sports Illustrated published a story by Jessica Luther and Jon Wertheim detailing the on-again, off-again relationship between Pernice and MaryAnn O'Neill, a relationship that included Pernice allegedly becoming violent toward O'Neill on multiple occasions, and the PGA doing little in response.