Getty Image / Patrick Smith
Alan Shipnuck’s unauthorized Phil Mickelson biography titled Phil was released in May. The book contains an anecdote about Phil’s relationship with Pat Perez and why Pat hasn’t like Phil for years.
According to Simon and Schuster publishing, Shipnuck’s “raw and uncensored” biography “captures a singular life defined by thrilling victories, crushing defeats, and countless controversies.” An attorney for Phil Mickelson is denying the story from Shipnuck’s book, according to PageSix.
In the book, the incident is alleged to have taken place in 2015 at the Liberty National Golf Course during the 2015 Barclays, just across the river from Manhattan. Coincidentally, I was at that tournament on Saturday with friends and got brutally sunburned.
The book says “As the story goes, when Pat excused himself to use the restroom during dinner, Mickelson whipped out his phone to allegedly show her a photograph of himself that she found offensive.”
For context, during a 2022 podcast appearance, Pat Perez said “When it comes to Phil, I have a different hate for Phil than most people… Phil crossed the line with me that is just uncrossable and unforgivable.”
He went on to say “He apologized for the action, but I cannot forgive him for it because I’ve known Phil for a long, long time. I’ve known the guy forever. And the fact that when he made this action, not only was it — he had intentions of doing it; he knew it was going to happen before it happened and when he did it — I was hurt, for one. I was like, ‘How can this guy do this?’”
In a later comment to the NY Post, Pat Perez would say “It’s a matter between us. We handled it.”
Prior to joining LIV, Pat Perez also openly spoke about Phil Mickelson being outcast from the golf world:
Just to reiterate, Phil Mickelson’s lawyer said the story in Alan Shipnuck’s book is “absolutely untrue.”