I ordered it from Amazon and it was shipped from them as well and have read posts saying they don’t ship their rods safely. It was shipped in a flimsy box and wasn’t secured but I’m seeing no damage besides the cork looking like this. I’m unsure if st Croix cork is supposed to look like this.

Can't see the picture. Please make sure the pic file is under 1.4M.  But I can confirm without pictures that Amazon ships rods like that. Every time it's a lottery. I've complained to them several times after accidents, but frankly, they just don't care. 

No pic, but message them and tell them it "might" be compromised and you would like to send it back. They will do one of two things. Give you a return label to print, or refund your money and tell you to keep it. I have had it go both ways with different items.