dpPhil Mickelson is one of professional golf’s most consequential figures and a San Diego native who has long called the region home. But Mickelson is unwelcome at a course at which he’s played and practiced for decades after serious allegations made against him.
Multiple sources with knowledge of the matter confirmed to Golf Digest that Mickelson is no longer a member at The Farms Golf Club outside San Diego after a female club employee accused the six-time major champion of inappropriate contact with her before a round of golf earlier this spring.
Golf Digest has identified and verified the employee and is withholding her name to protect her privacy. She declined to participate in this story. Mickelson, who announced in February he would step away from competition while tending to a family health matter, declined invitations to comment directly on the allegations, but a spokesperson for the golfer offered the following statement: “Any misunderstanding has been cleared up. Phil continues to attend to a family health matter and is uncertain when he will be able to return to professional golf.”
According to multiple sources, Mickelson approached the female employee at the clubhouse where he made nonconsensual and inappropriate physical contact with her. The employee rejected his advances. As Mickelson returned to the course, the employee reported the incident to supervisors. Club officials took the allegation seriously and moved quickly, initiating a review and investigation before locating Mickelson mid-round. He was confronted with the accusation on the course.
Following that confrontation, he was told to vacate the premises and left the course before completing his round.
After Golf Digest presented The Farms with its reporting on the alleged incident, the club provided the following statement:
“The Farms Golf Club is committed to maintaining a golf club environment that is safe, respectful and reflects the highest standards of conduct. All members are required to adhere to our Code of Conduct, and any allegations of misconduct are taken seriously. Following a staff member report of member misconduct, the Club provided immediate and ongoing support to the staff member, conducted a thorough independent investigation of the incident and took decisive action. This individual is no longer a member of The Farms Golf Club.
“The Farms conducts thorough reviews of all reported matters according to California Law and takes appropriate action when warranted, consistent with our commitment to integrity, excellence and accountability. To protect the safety and privacy of our staff and members, we are unable to speak further on this matter. We appreciate your understanding.”
Multiple sources at the club have confirmed the individual was Mickelson.
Golf Digest reached out to Mickelson through his representatives on June 5 offering him the opportunity to participate. Tom Clare, one of the country’s leading defamation attorneys, responded on June 7 saying he was representing the golfer. Clare asserted the description of the incident provided by Golf Digest was “squarely contradicted by objective, video evidence.” Golf Digest’s investigation revealed there was no video of the incident because there were no cameras in the area where the incident took place. Furthermore, a spokesperson from The Farms confirmed there is no footage capturing any direct interaction between the parties or showing them together. When Golf Digest provided Mickelson’s legal team the opportunity to show any footage contradicting the reporting, no video was provided. Clare also failed to specify which of the allegations, if any, were false.
On June 10, Clare provided Golf Digest the following statement: “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.”
For Mickelson, The Farms has been more than a membership. The club sits 25 miles northeast of downtown San Diego, minutes from his longtime home in Rancho Santa Fe. Mickelson was born and raised in the area, won dozens of junior tournaments across the region and never truly left the place that made him. Along with Rancho Santa Fe Golf Club, The Farms has served as his primary training ground before major championships, a familiar and private setting where he could work without scrutiny. At The Farms he was entirely himself, putting together money games, trading sharp banter and frequently playing with fellow tour pros, executives and old friends who had known him long before the major championships and the fame.
Mickelson’s only competitive appearance of the year came in mid-March at LIV Golf’s South Africa event, where he finished tied for 48th. Ahead of the LIV Golf season opener in Saudi Arabia, Mickelson posted on social media he would not be able to play in LIV’s first two events because he and wife Amy needed to be present for a family health matter. He missed the Masters in April for the same reason, saying he would be “out for an extended period of time.” Golf Digest has confirmed this issue is separate from The Farms episode.
Mickelson’s name briefly appeared in the 2026 PGA Championship field before the PGA of America confirmed his withdrawal within hours. Across each of those statements, the explanation has remained the same. Mickelson will not be at the upcoming U.S. Open. His five-year exemption from winning the 2021 PGA Championship has expired and the USGA did not extend him a special invitation for the U.S. Open’s return to Shinnecock despite finishing runner-up six times at the national championship. He did not file an entry to attempt to qualify. As of this writing, his name remains on the entry list for the Open Championship in July.
For most of his prime, Mickelson cultivated a public persona that made him a fan favorite and a popular pitchman for brands. Where Tiger Woods kept the world at a careful distance, Mickelson pulled fans in, a family man who treated galleries like constituencies and made affability his most durable asset. In recent years, however, he has been at the center of several controversies. He was part of a federal insider trading investigation that ultimately put Mickelson’s friend and bookmaker Billy Walters in prison. Following his release from incarceration, Walters wrote a book that alleged Mickelson made more than $1 billion worth of sports bets, and that Walters had to talk Mickelson out of betting on the 2012 Ryder Cup that Mickelson was competing in.
Additionally, Walters wrote that Mickelson was involved in a previously unknown money-laundering investigation. In response, Mickelson said at the time, “I never bet on the Ryder Cup. While it is well known that I always enjoy a friendly wager on the course, I would never undermine the integrity of the game. I have also been very open about my gambling addiction. I have previously conveyed my remorse, took responsibility, have gotten help, have been fully committed to therapy that has positively impacted me and I feel good about where I am now.”
For the past five years, Mickelson has occupied the center of professional golf’s civil war, serving as architect, recruiter and frontman for LIV Golf. The venture nearly collapsed before it launched after Mickelson, in a candid exchange with writer Alan Shipnuck, described LIV’s Saudi backers as “scary motherf—ers” with a dismal human rights record — an admission that was striking given he was simultaneously embracing those same backers as leverage against the PGA Tour. He weathered that controversy, ultimately staying the course with LIV, and later put his name on an antitrust lawsuit against the tour. Through it all, Mickelson remained a gravitational force for LIV.
The same could be said for Mickelson’s presence at The Farms. Inside the clubhouse is a curated display of the athletes most associated with the club—Xander Schauffele, Charley Hoffman and Chris Riley, San Diego professionals who made good. Michael Jordan is there, the only non-golfer. For years, Mickelson was the most prominent athlete associated with the club.
A spokesperson for The Farms confirmed Mickelson’s display is now gone.
