Phil Mickelson has spent most of this season away from professional golf because of a family health emergency. He has played only one event this season and missed all three of the men’s majors. Just a few weeks back, it was reported that the lefty has registered for the 2026 Open Championship. However, a new report pours cold water on hopes of watching Mickelson at Birkdale, and it comes amid a new set of allegations made against him.

James Corrigan of The Telegraph reported that Mickelson has withdrawn his application from the Open Championship. This will be the first time since 2009 that Phil Mickelson won’t play the final men’s major of the season. The Open holds special significance for the six-time major champion, who has often described the 2013 triumph as the most fulfilling victory of his career.

It is worth noting, however, that Mickelson’s decision to withdraw from The Open was made about two weeks before the latest allegations published by Skratch became public. After Golf Digest first reported about Mickelson’s expulsion from The Farms due to misconduct allegations, author Alan Shipnuck published an investigative report based on 19 interviews that detailed additional instances of similar accusations. Reportedly, one of the incidents involved Ashley Perez, the former wife of fellow golfer Pat Perez.

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According to Ashley, during the 2015 Barclays Championship, Mickelson invited the couple to stay at his villa in New York. While Pat Perez briefly stepped away from the dinner table, Ashley alleged that Mickelson showed her an explicit photograph of himself and made an unwanted advance.

Ashley chose not to tell her then-husband immediately because she did not want to distract him during the tournament. However, later she told her husband, and Mickelson acknowledged his mistake. Pat Perez later alluded to the incident during a 2022 podcast appearance, saying Mickelson had “crossed the line” that he shouldn’t have and that the relationship between the two could not be repaired.

The report from Shipnuck, who wrote the book, “Phil: The Rip-Roaring (and Unauthorized!) Biography of Golf’s Most Colorful Superstar,” and “LIV and Let Die,” also mentioned that Phil Mickelson was kicked out of the Madison Club and The Bridges in Rancho Santa Fe in recent years. Both were linked to his behavior.

Shipnuck quoted a friend of Mickelson as saying, “He thought he was bulletproof, because his whole life he had always skated on everything. But, in the end, he had too many demons. He got consumed by his own darkness.”

Notably, through attorney Tom Clare, Mickelson strongly disputed the broader allegations contained in Shipnuck’s report. Clare said some of the claims were “outright false,” while others revisited mistakes Mickelson had already acknowledged publicly or privately.

“Stacking the disputed claims next to the ones he has owned does not make them credible. It instead contributes to a false and misleading narrative,” Clare wrote. The statement further mentioned that Mickelson’s current priority remains “to become the husband, father, and man his family deserves,” while focusing his full attention on the family’s private health matter.

Mickelson, himself, has yet to issue any formal statement. The six-time major winner, absent from the greens due to a family health emergency, had been active on social media. However, his last tweet was on June 9. While the news of his withdrawal coincided with Shipnuck’s report, the decision was made around June 18, according to some reports.

Earlier, Mickelson’s attorney, Tom Clare, disputed the Golf Digest report of The Farms incident, describing it as a “misunderstanding” that had been “cleared up.” He also maintained that Mickelson voluntarily resigned his membership. The woman declined to participate on the record, and Golf Digest withheld her identity to protect her privacy.

Shipnuck, interestingly, also raised questions about Mickelson’s future in pro golf.

“For him to play a PGA Tour or a Senior Tour event, he’s going to have to serve a suspension of at least a year. He’s going to have to pay a mega fine. I think he’s disinclined to do either one. If LIV Golf goes away next year, which is increasingly likely, Phil’s a man without a country. He has nowhere to play,” the author said in a recent podcast appearance.

Mickelson has a lifetime exemption at the Masters and the PGA Championship as a former champion. However, his U.S. Open exemption, thanks to his 2021 PGA Championship victory, has run out. Meanwhile, R&A announced past champions will only be exempt till they are 55. Mickelson turned 56 earlier this month. But the major played on links courses always had a special place in his heart.

“The greatest challenge that I faced in my career was developing the skills to win at links golf and win The Open Championship,” Phil Mickelson said in an interview revealing that it took him two decades of learning and practice to finally win the major in 2013.

He even went on to say that he arguably played the best round of his career that week. Mickelson arrived at Muirfield fresh off a victory at the Scottish Open before lifting the Claret Jug, one of the defining moments of his career. But there was something even more special about that victory.

After he hit the final putt for a birdie on the 18th of the last round, his family was standing right next to the green. As he won, he turned to his wife, Amy, and their three kids for a hug.

This season, while his absence has consistently been attributed to family reasons, recent investigative reports have brought renewed attention to allegations regarding his conduct away from the course.