Phil Mickelson has reportedly had his membership cancelled at his San Diego golf club following allegations of "inappropriate contact" with a female employee, allegations his team say have already been "cleared up".
The initial report by Golf Digest stated that Mickelson is no longer a member at The Farms Golf Club, where he has practiced for decades, after an allegation was made of “nonconsensual and inappropriate physical contact” against the 55-year-old.
Mickelson is said to have been confronted about the allegation during a round earlier this year, and immediately left the property without completing 18 holes.
A spokesman for Mickelson responded to Golf Digest though, saying "any misunderstanding has been cleared up" while attorney Tom Clare said the allegations could be "squarely contradicted by objective, video evidence" in his response.
Golf Digest cited The Farms when claiming there is no footage of the incident as there are no cameras in that area - and no video has yet been produced by either side.
The Farms made a statement to Golf Digest confirming an incident had taken place and that a member had been removed, but did not name Mickelson as that individual in question.
"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," read the statement.
"This individual is no longer a member of The Farms Golf Club."
Mickelson has only played one LIV Golf event this year, and announced after missing The Masters that he would take an extended break while dealing with a personal family health matter.
Mickelson team says 'misunderstanding has been cleared up'
The six-time Major champion has not directly responded to the Golf DIgest report, but a spokesman did offer a short statement playing down the alleged incident.
“Any misunderstanding has been cleared up," read the statement. "Phil continues to attend to a family health matter and is uncertain when he will be able to return to professional golf.”
The message from defamation attorney Clare, who says he is representing Mickelson, struck a more serious tone. After claiming there was video evidence to contradict the claims, he added:
“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."
The California Post later reported that the San Diego County Sheriff's Office had attempted to investigate the allegations, but had not received any official report and found no evidence.
The statement said law enforcement "made attempts to locate any evidence to support the potential allegation of a sexual assault" but that “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."
