Hunterbrook’s October 31 investigation revealed Sable CEO Jim Flores allegedly shared selective information with investors, including Phil Mickelson. The report detailed discussions of a $200 million equity raise that had never been publicly disclosed. Mickelson fought back, explaining his side of the story. Then, he hired defamation lawyer Tom Clare on November 7. Now, he has bluntly taken a jab at a journalist, shaping the narrative.

Mickelson, on November 9, dismissed journalist Pablo Torre with a brutal one-two punch: “I’ve never heard of you and have no idea who you are.” Then came the knockout. “But given what I know to be true and what you report, you’re tabloid, and I’ll wait for the right opportunity.”

The dismissal came after Pablo Torre invited Mickelson onto his podcast to discuss explosive allegations. Torre’s November 6 episode featured investigative journalist Sam Koppelman from Hunterbrook Media. They detailed leaked investor chats where Mickelson allegedly shared insider tips about Sable Offshore. The chats also included a crude joke about Donald Trump confronting Gavin Newsom to hype the company’s stock.

Torre isn’t some random blogger. He’s an award-winning sports journalist who won the Edward R. Murrow Award for Sports Reporting in both 2022 and 2024. He graduated magna cum laude from Harvard and previously worked for ESPN The Magazine and Sports Illustrated. But credentials don’t matter when you’re Phil Mickelson, facing uncomfortable questions.  Here’s what makes this response particularly calculated.

Mickelson actually engaged with Torre on November 1. He explained his careful approach to insider information in a detailed X post. “So a company says I can’t say anything to you, but we will announce something at the close,” Mickelson wrote. “I don’t know if it’s a dilution and the stock goes down or a deal for the stock to go up. I have to wait to see what the info is, I make no trades whatsoever and am ultra ultra careful.”

“So a company says I can’t say anything to you, but we will announce something at the close. I don’t know if it’s a dilution and the stock goes down or a deal for the stock to go up. I have to wait to see what the info is, I make no trades whatsoever and am ultra ultra careful.”

Then Torre invited him for a full interview. Eight days passed. Mickelson’s response? Pretend Torre doesn’t exist. Well..

Modern athletes don’t just endorse products anymore—they’re in the boardrooms, the investor chats, the private equity deals. And when questions arise about those private conversations, social media becomes the platform where they shape the narrative.

This isn’t Mickelson’s first rodeo with controversy. He’s got a playbook, and it rarely changes.

Phil Mickelson’s controversy playbook: A familiar pattern

In 2016, the SEC designated him a “relief defendant” in an insider trading case. His friend Billy Walters served five years in prison after Mickelson profited $931,000 from a Dean Foods stock tip. Mickelson paid back $1,037,029.81 but faced no criminal charges.

Then came his 2022 LIV Golf disaster. Mickelson called the Saudis “scary motherf—-rs.” He claimed the comments were off-record. They weren’t. He apologized, disappeared for months, then joined LIV anyway. The pattern repeats itself every time. Controversy strikes. Mickelson deflects, disappears, or dismisses. He controls the narrative by refusing to participate in anyone else’s.

Torre’s “right opportunity” will probably never come. And that might be precisely what Mickelson’s counting on.