Phil Mickelson Withdraws from Open Championship Amid Allegations

Phil Mickelson has withdrawn from the 2026 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale, his camp confirmed on June 18. This decision marks a major moment in his decorated golf career.

Mickelson’s withdrawal from the Open Championship was reportedly made around June 18, roughly two weeks before it became public. The timing coincided with the publication of an investigation by writer Alan Shipnuck, which revealed a pattern of alleged inappropriate conduct stretching back more than a decade.

The Open withdrawal decision means 2026 will become the first year in which the six-time major winner has failed to appear in any of the four major tournaments. Mickelson, 56, won the Claret Jug at Muirfield in 2013 and entered Royal Birkdale’s field as a past champion.

A *Golf Digest* report in June stated that Mickelson had been removed midround from The Farms Golf Club in Rancho Santa Fe, California, following accusations of nonconsensual and inappropriate physical contact with a female employee. Club officials confronted him on the course and told him to leave before finishing his round.

Mickelson’s attorney, Tom Clare, disputed the account, claiming the events were “squarely contradicted by objective, video evidence.” The club countered that no cameras existed in the relevant area. No criminal complaint was filed.

A spokesperson offered the same explanation for the Open withdrawal: “Phil continues to attend to a family health matter and is uncertain when he will be able to return to professional golf,” according to *Golf Digest*‘s Joel Beall and Tod Leonard. Mickelson missed the Masters, citing a family health matter, and withdrew from the PGA Championship at Aronimink.

The Shipnuck report drew on 19 sources and independent fact-checking. A central allegation involves a 2015 incident at The Barclays tournament. Ashley Perez, then married to tour veteran Pat Perez, told Shipnuck that Mickelson showed her an explicit photo of himself and then propositioned her while Pat stepped away from the table during dinner.

Ashley Perez explained why she spoke on the record: “There is a culture of silence that keeps women from coming forward,” she said, as quoted by Shipnuck. Pat Perez addressed the incident during a 2022 podcast: “Phil crossed the line with me that is just uncrossable and unforgivable,” he said.

Mickelson later called to apologize and, in a recorded conversation, said he was “disgusted and embarrassed” in himself, as quoted by Shipnuck in *Skratch*. The exit is the first Open Mickelson will miss since 2009, when he skipped Turnberry to be with his wife, Amy, during her breast cancer treatment.