exclusive
One possible reason behind veteran pro golfer Pat Perez’s legendary “hate” towards PGA legend Phil Mickelson has been revealed in a new afterword to author Alan Shipnuck’s Mickelson biography.
Shipnuck alleges in the newly published passages in his best-seller “Phil” that Mickelson once showed Perez’s wife an “offensive” picture.
According to the book, Mickelson had invited Perez and his wife, Ashley, to dinner at Liberty National Golf Course, in New Jersey, during the 2015 Barclays tournament.
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.”
Perez declined to comment to the Post. According to the book, when he was reached for comment in December 2022, Perez said, “It’s a matter between us. We handled it.”
Mickelson declined to comment.
Mickelson’s agent, Steve Loy, and Perez’s agent at the time, Jeff Koski — both of whom allege they were present at the dinner — claim that Shipnuck’s account is “absolutely untrue,” according to Mickelson’s attorney.
In November 2022, Perez said on the “Son of a Butch” podcast: “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 further said that Mickelson had apologized.
“He knows that he screwed up,” Perez said.
“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?’”
It is not clear whether Perez was referring to the alleged photo incident here, or something else.
Either way, Perez’s statements on the podcast fueled much discussion among fans online.
Both Mickelson and Perez play for the Saudi-backed LIV Golf, which has just merged with the PGA Tour.
Mickelson played last week’s U.S. Open, but missed the cut.
