Golf legend Phil Mickelson is refuting an accusation that he inappropriately touched a female employee at a prestigious golf club in Southern California earlier this year.
According to Golf Digest, Mickelson allegedly approached the worker at Farms Golf Club in Rancho Santa Fe and made “nonconsensual and inappropriate physical contact” with her. After she rejected him, she reported the alleged sexual misconduct to her supervisors.
Mickelson has hired Tom Clare, a top defamation attorney, who said video evidence contradicted the allegations.
“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,” attorney Tom Clare said in a statement to Golf Digest.
Clare did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for comment.
The allegation resulted in the immediate removal of Mickelson from the golf grounds and revocation of his longtime membership at the club.
Farms Golf Club said in a statement to the golf magazine that it conducted a thorough investigation into the incident before confronting Mickelson and stood by its decision to end his membership.
Michelson, 55, withdrew from professional golf earlier this year due to family health reasons, last playing at the LIV Golf South Africa in March. In 2022 he left the PGA Tour for LIV Golf, which will lose the financial backing of the Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund this fall.
Mickelson, a married father of three, has won six major tournaments on the PGA Tour — three Masters, two PGA championships and one Open Championship. His estimated career earningsexceed $1 billion, including $97 million in PGA Tour prize money, a reported $200 million signing bonus to join LIV Golf and an estimated $800 million from off-course endorsements and business ventures.
The accusation of sexual misconduct is the latest in a string of negative headlines associated with Mickelson, several of which pertain to his gambling.
The Detroit News obtained federal court records that claimed a mob-connected bookie handled bets for Mickelson and was accused of cheating the golfer out of $500,000 in 2007.
Mickelson was accused by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in 2016 of getting an insider trading tip and buying $931,000 of stock from sports gambler Billy Walters. Mickelson was not charged and agreed to pay back the amount.
Federal auditors investigating Mickelson’s role in the scheme found that his gambling losses totaled more than $40 millionfrom 2010 to 2014, according to an unauthorized biography of Mickelson.
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