Phil Mickelson-Pat Perez incident, explained: What to know about lewd story involving golfer's ex-wife Ashley Perez

Phil Mickelson has been away from golf for much of this year, missing each of the first three majors in 2026. With him away, stories have come out regarding Mickelson's conduct off the course.

Earlier this month, Mickelson was kicked out of The Farms Golf Club in San Diego for making an inappropriate comment towards an employee. It turns out that the incident was just one of many over teh past several years as Mickelson has been kicked out of a few clubs and been accused of sexual misconduct by a few women.

Alan Shipnuck of Skratch reported on Mickelson's incidents, which are headlined by something that occurred between Mickelson, golfer Pat Perez and Perez's ex-wife, Ashley. Here's a breakdown of the incident from 2015.

MORE: Why Phil Mickelson was kicked out of The Farms Club

Phil Mickelson-Pat Perez incident

Over the past decade, Mickelson has been involved in several incidents where he crossed the line with lewd language and sexually explicit actions. One such instance involved Mickelson's fellow LIV golfer, Pat Perez, and Perez's then-wife, Ashley.

During the week of the Barclays tournament in 2015 in New Jersey, Mickelson made sure that he and the Perezes stayed together in a Villa. One night, while they were drinking wine on a patio, Perez went to the bathroom, at which point Mickelson showed Ashley a picture of him naked and aroused while flexing.

"Phil says to me, 'I’m going to leave my bedroom door open tonight. When Pat falls asleep, I want you to come see me'," Ashley said, via Alan Shipnuck of Skratch. 

Ashley told Pat after the tournament ended, and eventually the incident became a poorly-kept secret in the golf community. While Mickelson apologized to Pat for what happened, Pat never forgave him.

"I have a different hate for Phil than most people," he said on Claude Harmon's podcast in 2022. "And people won't know the story—I'm not gonna go into the story again—but Phil crossed the line with me that is just uncrossable and unforgivable. He knows that he screwed up. He apologized for the action, but I cannot forgive him for it."

After Perez made those comments in 2022, Mickelson tried to apologize again, but Mickelson didn't appear to remember the exact nature of the picture, at which point Perez became even more enraged.

Pat and Ashley divorced in 2023.

Phil Mickelson Alan Shipnuck article

Alan Shipnuck and Skratch published a story detailing Mickelson's issues with sexual misconduct in the last decade of his career. This came on the heels of Mickelson being kicked out of The Farms Golf Club in San Diego for an incident in March.

Besides the incident with Perez's wife, Shipnuck explains how Mickelson's attitude appeared to change when his wife, Amy, stayed home more often following her battle with cancer. Mickelson began to drink more on the road and would say sexually explicit things in otherwise normal conversations with women.

Shipnuck describes two other club incidents. One came at the Madison Club in California, where Mickelson owned a condo and where he would train in the winter before the PGA Tour season began. According to Shipnuck, Mickelson had women who weren't his wife over to the condo when Amy wasn't there. Mickelson left the club in 2021, which Shipnuck reports was at Amy's behest.

The other incident occurred at The Bridges, where Mickelson would leave his phone with golf carts and pro shop workers because Amy was tracking it. As a result of Mickelson not taking his membership seriously, eventually, The Bridges gave Mickelson's membership to Xander Schauffele.

Shipnuck's entire story paints the picture of Mickelson's decline. The three-time Masters champion has taken a leave from golf to deal with what he's called a family health matter, but LIV is on the precipice of peril, leaving the golf pro with a clouded future. 

Who is Pat Perez's wife?

Pat Perez used to be married to Ashley Perez before they divorced in 2023. Ashley is very prominent on social media and was a vocal supporter of Pat and LIV Golf before the two divorced, not long after Pat joined the league.

Who is Phil Mickelson's wife?

Phil Mickelson married Amy McBride in 1996, and the two have three children together. Amy was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2009, and when Mickelson won his third Masters in 2010, the two shared a moment of embrace on the 18th green.