Phil Mickelson, one of the most recognizable figures in golf, is no longer a member at the San Diego area club where he had played for years, after a female employee accused him of inappropriate physical contact before a round this spring. The account was first reported by Golf Digest and has since been echoed in outline by several outlets, though Mickelson’s lawyers dispute it.
According to Golf Digest, the employee told supervisors at The Farms Golf Club in Rancho Santa Fe that Mickelson had made what she described as non consensual and inappropriate contact as he prepared to tee off. She reported it while he went out to play, and club officials investigated the same day.
Mickelson was confronted on the course in the middle of his round, according to the report, and asked to leave the premises, with his membership at the club revoked. Neither Mickelson nor the club has laid out the precise sequence in public, and the employee has not been named.
Mickelson’s side rejects the characterization. His attorney, Tom Clare, told Golf Digest there is objective video evidence that refutes the allegation, although the lawyers did not produce the footage when the outlet asked to see it. In a separate statement his attorneys said any misunderstanding had been cleared up.
Mickelson himself has not addressed the specifics. He said only that he continues to attend to a family health matter and is uncertain when he will be able to return to professional golf. No criminal charges have been reported in connection with the allegation, and none of the claims have been tested in court.
The fallout lands on one of the era’s defining players. Mickelson, who turns 56 this month, won six majors across a long career and became the oldest man to win one when he took the 2021 PGA Championship at the age of 50. His move to the Saudi backed LIV Golf circuit in 2022 had already made him one of the sport’s most polarizing names, and this is the latest controversy to attach to him away from competition.
For now the only firm facts are that a complaint was made, that the club acted on it by removing a high profile member, and that Mickelson’s lawyers insist the evidence is on his side. Whether anything further follows, from the club, the employee or elsewhere, will decide how heavily the episode weighs on a reputation that has swung between adored and contested for most of the past decade.
