Golf icon Phil Mickelson allegedly showed a naked photograph of himself to the wife of fellow Tour professional Pat Perez during a tournament week stay, according to a bombshell new media report by golf outlet Skratch.
Ashley Perez, who was married to Pat from 2014 to 2023, told the outlet the incident occurred during a 2015 Barclays tournament in New Jersey, when Mickelson arranged for the couple to join him at his villa at Liberty National Golf Course.
While Pat had excused himself to use the restroom, leaving Ashley and Mickelson alone on the patio, she claims the six-time major champion produced his phone and showed her a full-body image of himself naked and aroused.
‘Phil says to me, ‘I’m going to leave my bedroom door open tonight. When Pat falls asleep I want you to come see me,’ Ashley told golf media outlet Skratch.
According to the outlet, she said she declined his advances and did not immediately tell her husband, saying she had not wanted to create a scene mid-tournament.
When Perez was eventually told, he confronted Mickelson – who the outlet reports ultimately apologized during a corporate outing at the Madison Club in La Quinta, California.
Phil Mickelson allegedly showed a naked photograph of himself to a fellow golfer’s wife
Ashley Perez, who was married to Pat from 2014 to 2023, alleged the incident occurred in 2015
The allegation became central to Perez’s now-notorious comments on Claude Harmon’s podcast in November 2022, when he said: ‘I have a different hate for Phil than most people.
‘Phil crossed the line with me that is just uncrossable and unforgivable. He knows that he screwed up. He apologized for the action, but I cannot forgive him for it.’
Ashley Perez says she has a recording of a subsequent 26-minute phone call between Pat and Mickelson. During it, she claims, Mickelson alternated between contrition and saying he could not remember the details of the evening.
When Pat told him he had shown Ashley ‘a naked photo’, Mickelson is alleged to have responded: ‘You mean topless?’
Without fully admitting what had happened, Mickelson is said to have told the couple: ‘I can’t tell you how disgusted and embarrassed I am in myself.’
Perez said: ‘I’m not talking about Phil. I don’t care if he did or didn’t do something. None of my business or concern.’
The allegations against Mickelson, 56, come amid a separate and already-public scandal involving the six-time major champion.
Earlier this month, Golf Digest reported that Mickelson had been removed as a member of The Farms Golf Club in Rancho Santa Fe, California, amid allegations of inappropriate physical contact with a female staff member.
Ashley Perez says she has a recording of a 26-minute phone call between Pat and Mickelson
The allegations against Mickelson, 55, come amid a separate and already-public scandal
According to multiple sources, Mickelson approached the employee in the clubhouse, made non-consensual and inappropriate physical contact with her, and he was confronted by club officials mid-round before being told to vacate the premises.
A representative confirmed he had resigned from the club.
The Skratch report paints the incidents as part of a deeply entrenched pattern of behavior. Mickelson had previously departed two other high-end clubs – the Madison Club and The Bridges, also in Rancho Santa Fe – with sources at both saying personal conduct was a primary factor.
A woman who attended a tournament dinner with Mickelson during the same period describes an encounter she characterizes as deeply disturbing.
‘Out of nowhere, Phil started asking the most inappropriate questions about my personal life and then propositioning me in graphic detail,’ she told Skratch.
‘He went on and on about how he had been fantasizing about me and all the things he wanted to do to me. It was horrible.’
Ashley Perez also describes a separate dinner – predating the nude photo incident – at which she claims Mickelson ‘kept taking’ conversation ‘somewhere very dark and sexual’, making graphic gestures at the table.
In the statement provided to Skratch, a spokeswoman for Mickelson said: ‘Some of the allegations circulating about Mr Mickelson are false, and others revisit mistakes he has already acknowledged, publicly or privately. Recovery is not a straight line. Mr Mickelson’s priority is to become the husband, father, and man his family deserves.’
Mickelson, pictured with wife Amy, stepped away from golf indefinitely earlier in the year
Mickelson has not competed since LIV Golf’s South Africa event in March and has cited a private family health matter for his absence.
He missed the Masters, skipped the PGA Championship, and – his five-year exemption from the 2021 PGA Championship having now expired – was not extended a special invitation to this week’s US Open at Shinnecock Hills.
A display of his achievements in The Farms clubhouse has since been removed.
In a statement provided to The California Post on Friday, Mickelson’s attorney, Tom Clare, offered a scathing assessment of the allegations.
‘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,’ the lawyer said.
‘Recycling mistakes he has already acknowledged as new reporting, and dragging private family matters into public view, is reckless. It is the pursuit of clicks at the expense of the truth. Do better.’
The Daily Mail has reached out to Mickelson’s representatives for comment.
