Golf legend Phil Mickelson is pushing back against allegations he inappropriately touched a female employee at an exclusive Southern California golf club earlier this year — with his attorney saying video evidence refutes the allegations.
The six-time major champion allegedly approached a worker at Farms Golf Club in Rancho Santa Fe and made “nonconsensual and inappropriate physical contact” with her.
After rejecting him, the employee reported the alleged misconduct to supervisors.
Mickelson, 55, has retained prominent defamation attorney Tom Clare, who says video evidence contradicts the claims.
“There is a great deal of misinformation circulating and, while Phil’s full attention is devoted to a private family health matter, he has retained defamation counsel and is determined to hold accountable any publication or individual trafficking in speculation or false rumors,” Clare said in a statement to Golf Digest.
The allegation reportedly led to Mickelson being immediately removed from the club’s grounds and stripped of his longtime membership.
Farms Golf Club told Golf Digest it conducted a thorough investigation before confronting Mickelson and stands by its decision to revoke his membership.
But law enforcement sources who spoke to The California Post on Thursday said they had not been able to “locate any evidence to support the potential allegation of a sexual assault.”
An SDCSO spokesperson said they had not received any official reports of a sexual assault incident at the club and “at this time, we have not located any evidence to show an assault has occurred.”
“The Sheriff’s Office would absolutely investigate further if provided additional evidence or information,” the SDCSO spokesperson said. “We encourage anyone with information regarding an incident such as this to reach out to the Sheriff’s Office.”
Mickelson, a San Diego native, had deep ties to the establishment — Golf Digest reported he’s played there often over the years and even used it to practice for major championships.
The married father of three stepped away from professional golf earlier this year for family health reasons. His last appearance came at LIV Golf South Africa in March.
Mickelson left the PGA Tour for LIV Golf in 2022.
