From Idol to Accused: The Case of Phil Mickelson

For decades, he was considered the friendly face of professional golf: Phil Mickelson, a six-time major champion, a fan favorite, and a charismatic ambassador for his sport. But since the spring of 2026, this image has been seen in a fundamentally different light. A detailed investigative report by renowned golf journalist Alan Shipnuck, published on June 26, 2026, on the Skratch website, draws on 19 interviews and legal analysis to paint a picture of a long-standing pattern of inappropriate behavior—and profiles a man who has been out of the public eye for months.

Who is Phil Mickelson?

Phil Mickelson, born on June 16, 1970, in San Diego, is one of the most famous golfers in history. With six major titles—including three Masters Tournament victories, the PGA Championship, and the 2013 Open Championship at Muirfield—he has secured a permanent place among golf’s legends. Long known as “Lefty” in the English-speaking world, he has thrilled audiences for decades with his aggressive style, risky shots, and a charisma rarely seen in golf.

In 2022, Mickelson caused a stir when it was announced that he would be joining LIV Golf, the Saudi-funded breakaway circuit. Even before the circuit was officially launched, quotes from Shipnuck’s biography of Mickelson were circulating, in which the golfer spoke candidly about his calculations. The storm subsided—for the time being.

The Starting Point: An Incident at Farms Golf Club

The public kickoff of the current coverage came in a June 11, 2026, report by the trade magazine Golf Digest. Authors Joel Beall and Tod Leonard reported for the first time that in March 2026, Mickelson lost his decades-long membership at the exclusive Farms Golf Club in Rancho Santa Fe, California.

According to their research, a female club employee had reported non-consensual, inappropriate physical contact by Mickelson. According to club officials, Mickelson was subsequently approached while in the middle of a round on the course and asked to leave. Shortly thereafter, he lost his membership, which he had held for many years.

The club publicly confirmed that it had completed a thorough, independent investigation and taken “decisive action.” Mickelson’s attorney, Tom Clare, initially described the incident as a “misunderstanding” that had already been resolved. Clare also claimed that video footage would refute the employee’s account—a claim the club immediately rejected, stating that there were no cameras in the area in question. No criminal charges were filed by any of the parties involved.

Read more here about Phil Mickelson’s expulsion from the Farms Golf Club.

A Pattern Over the Years: Three Clubs, Three Departures

What Golf Digest described as an isolated incident appears, in light of Shipnuck’s further investigation, to be part of a longer-standing pattern. In his report, the journalist documents the abrupt terminations of Mickelson’s club memberships at three highly exclusive golf clubs.

At the Madison Club in La Quinta, California—where Mickelson once owned a condo and regularly practiced in the winter—situations are said to have arisen that also contributed to his departure in 2021. According to Shipnuck’s sources, Mickelson is said to have hosted women there who were not his wife.

Even more glaring are the incidents at The Bridges in Rancho Santa Fe. There, according to several independently interviewed sources, Mickelson allegedly paid a pro shop employee $500 to carry his cell phone around the course for hours. The reason: His wife, Amy, was tracking his location via GPS.

“Amy was tracking his cell phone; that way, she thought he was on the golf course. That gave Phil time to secretly head off to a private meeting.”— Anonymous source, The Bridges (via Skratch)

Mickelson’s membership at The Bridges was later transferred to the 2017 Tour Championship winner, Xander Schauffele. Mickelson himself has not publicly commented on any of these incidents.

The most serious allegations in detail

Ashley Perez: Nude photo and sexual invitation (2015)

The most thoroughly documented allegation in the Shipnuck report concerns Ashley Perez, the ex-wife of professional golfer Pat Perez. She is the only witness named in the report—a deliberate decision, as she herself explains. Her statement is further supported by a recorded phone conversation that Shipnuck says he listened to.

According to the report, Mickelson had invited the Perez couple to stay at his villa near Liberty National Golf Course in New Jersey during the 2015 Barclays Championship. One evening on the terrace, while Pat Perez briefly stepped away to use the restroom, Mickelson allegedly showed Ashley Perez an explicit nude photo of himself on his cell phone and then invited her to meet him late that night.

“Phil says to me, ‘I’m going to leave my bedroom door open tonight. Once Pat’s asleep, I want you to come to me.’”— Ashley Perez (via Skratch)

Ashley Perez declined. She kept quiet about it with her husband until the end of the tournament to avoid any escalation. Pat Perez eventually found out about the incident—and spoke about it so extensively that the story soon began circulating in the golfing community. Mickelson later apologized to Pat Perez in person at a corporate event. In 2022, a second apology followed during a 26-minute phone call that Ashley Perez recorded and shared with Shipnuck.

Pat Perez had already publicly alluded to the situation in 2022 on Claude Harmon’s golf podcast “Son of a Butch”: “Phil crossed a line that simply cannot be crossed and is unforgivable. He knows he screwed up. He has apologized for his actions, but I can’t forgive him.”— Pat Perez, “Son of a Butch” podcast

Restaurant incident: Explicit gestures in front of witnesses

Ashley Perez describes to Skratch another incident that is said to have occurred even before the Barclays tournament: During a restaurant visit with Pat Perez, Mickelson’s agent Steve Loy, and others, Mickelson allegedly steered the conversation deliberately in a sexual direction and made explicit body gestures in front of everyone present.

“It was incredibly inappropriate—we were sitting in an upscale restaurant with a lot of people at the table.”—Ashley Perez (via Skratch) Mickelson also apologized for this incident in the recorded phone call from 2022.

Verbal Harassment at a Tournament Week Dinner (~2015)

Another woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, told Shipnuck about an incident that occurred during a dinner on tournament week. According to her account, Mickelson reportedly became increasingly explicit and loud as the evening progressed—asking intrusive questions and making sexual advances. Two other guests who were present that evening independently confirmed the described behavior. “It was awful—I was sweating profusely. It felt like verbal rape.”— Anonymous witness (via Skratch)

Why Ashley Perez Is Speaking Out Now

The fact that Ashley Perez is the only witness to go public by name is a conscious and deliberate decision. Her statement gives the report a structural dimension that extends beyond this individual case:

“There’s a culture of silence that prevents women from speaking up. I want to give other women the courage to share their truth. With Phil, I feel like this pattern has been going on for years, but people were afraid to go public because it’s Phil Mickelson. We give these golfers so much admiration and money that they feel like gods. They think they’re untouchable. Being a professional athlete doesn’t exempt you from behaving respectfully in society.”— Ashley Perez (via Skratch)

Her public stance significantly increases the pressure on Mickelson—and could offer encouragement to other women. At the same time, the recorded phone call in which Mickelson apologizes lends the account a documentary basis that is rare in such cases.

The Reactions

Mickelson’s Attorney and Spokesperson

Phil Mickelson himself has not yet commented publicly on any of the allegations. His last public social media post was on June 9, 2026. Instead, his attorney, Tom Clare, and spokesperson, Jennifer Connelly, have taken over communications. Clare denies the allegations in general terms, without specifying individual points:

“Some of the allegations circulating about Mr. Mickelson are false, and others rehash mistakes he has already admitted to, either publicly or privately. Listing these disputed claims alongside the things he has acknowledged does not make them any more credible. Instead, it contributes to a false and misleading portrayal.”— Tom Clare, Phil Mickelson’s attorney (via Skratch / USA Today)

Clare and the spokeswoman did not specify which specific allegations were false and which Mickelson had admitted to. Connelly emphasized that Amy Mickelson continues to support her husband and is working with him to address a private family health matter. Clare added in a further statement to Golfweek:

“A small segment of the golf media has decided that—because Mr. Mickelson is a successful golfer—every detail of his private and family life is theirs to exploit. To repackage mistakes he has already admitted to as new news and to make private family matters public is reckless. It’s a hunt for clicks at the expense of the truth.”— Tom Clare

Pat Perez himself responded briefly to an inquiry from Skratch: He does not speak about Mickelson. His words expressed on the podcast in 2022—that Mickelson had crossed a line he could not forgive—have not been retracted since.

The Farms Golf Club

The club confirmed briefly and clearly that it had completed an independent investigation and taken decisive action. In response to Clare’s claim that video evidence contradicted the employee’s account, the club noted that no cameras were installed in the area in question.

Colleagues on the Tour

The reactions from the professional golfing community itself are revealing. Former PGA Champion Mark Brooks commented to Shipnuck on Mickelson’s absence from the Champions Dinner at the 2026 PGA Championship in Aronimink:

“If he had walked into the room, the temperature would have dropped ten degrees. The reception would have been frosty.”— Mark Brooks, former PGA champion (via Skratch)

Sports Consequences: A Major Year Without Mickelson

As the allegations escalate, Mickelson is going through the darkest phase of his career on the course. His last competitive appearance was in March 2026, when he tied for 48th place at the LIV Golf tournament in South Africa. He has not appeared on the course in public since then.

He has missed all three majors of 2026: the Masters and the PGA Championship, for which his status as a former champion would have qualified him, as well as the U.S. Open, for which his five-year exemption following his 2021 PGA Championship victory had expired and for which he did not receive a special invitation from the USGA.

In June 2026, he withdrew from The Open Championship at Royal Birkdale—the tournament Mickelson had described as the most emotional of his life. He himself described his 2013 triumph at Muirfield as the result of two decades of focused work on his links game. The decision to withdraw is said to have been made as early as June 18—about two weeks before the Shipnuck report was published. This makes 2026 the first year since 1989 in which Mickelson will not compete in a single major.

In a podcast interview, journalist Shipnuck paints a bleak picture of Mickelson’s future in the sport: “To be able to play in a PGA Tour or Senior Tour event, he would have to accept a suspension of at least one year and a hefty fine. I don’t think he’s willing to do that. If LIV Golf disappears next year—which is becoming increasingly likely—Phil will be a man without a home. He’ll have nowhere to play.”

LIV Golf itself is under considerable pressure: The Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund, which has financed the circuit with over five billion dollars, has announced that it will withdraw its funding by the end of 2026. A deadline for a potential new investor is reportedly set for September.

Read all about the four major tournaments in men’s golf here.

Context and Outlook

The allegations against Phil Mickelson do not stand alone. They target a man whose public image has already suffered in recent years due to his controversial move to LIV Golf, a publicly acknowledged gambling addiction, and opaque retirement announcements. What Shipnuck’s report adds is the systematic nature of the allegations: not an isolated incident, but a pattern documented over more than a decade—with consistent statements from multiple sources, a recorded phone conversation, and a key witness who is named in the report.

The anonymous companion, whose words conclude the report, sums up the downfall of a former idol: “He could have been Arnold Palmer. [...] My take: He started to believe his own nonsense. He thought he was invincible because he’d gotten away with everything his whole life. But in the end, he had too many demons. He was swallowed up by his own darkness.”— An anonymous friend of Phil Mickelson’s (via Skratch)

Many questions remain unanswered: Will Mickelson ever make a public statement? Will other women come forward? What does the sporting future hold for one of the world’s most famous golfers if LIV Golf, his only remaining tour, falls apart? And what do these incidents mean for a sport in which—according to Ashley Perez—a “culture of silence” has long shielded the misconduct of powerful, well-protected men?

No criminal charges have been filed so far: None of the women making the allegations have filed a police report. The moral, athletic, and societal debate, however, has only just begun.