Rumors have been swirling about a feud between two of LIV Golf’s most polarizing players.
According to Pat Perez, Phil Mickelson did something “unforgiveable” that’s resulted in Perez having a deep-seated hatred for the 43-time PGA Tour winner.
In an appearance on Claude Harmon’s “Son of a Butch” podcast, Perez outlined his issues with Mickelson, but refused to go into further detail about exactly what happened.
“When it comes to Phil, I have a different hate for Phil than most people,” Perez told Harmon. “People won’t know the story—I’m not going to 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 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?’
Now, thanks to Alan Shipnuck, who wrote the controversial biography on Mickelson, we have some more information on the Perez/Mickelson feud. In a reader Q and A, a reader (@Mfurlong) asked Shipnuck if he knew anything about the beef between the two.
“What’s the Pat Perez/Phil dust-up about? I read once in a detective novel that, “All crime is about sex or money.” My bet is sex … you??”
Shipnuck responded to the question, and said the details were too inflammatory to share without confirming with Perez himself.
“Well, it ain’t about money. In the course of reporting my book on Mickelson I kept hearing of his rift with Perez, a fellow San Diego native. They have a lot of history. Perez has always fancied himself a Tiger guy, which means he has never been warm and cuddly toward Phil. But what inspired Perez to spout off on various podcasts lately was Mickelson doing something that deeply offended Perez and his wife Ashley. I approached Pat a couple of times to see if he’d go on-record, but he declined. I had a handful of players and caddies tell me they heard of the incident directly from Perez, but the details are so inflammatory I didn’t feel comfortable putting the story in the book without direct confirmation. This whole situation is still clearly festering with Perez so we’ll see if he chooses to make the details public; if so, that will certainly set off a firestorm.”
Although it’s still unclear what happened between Perez and Mickelson, the confirmation that players and caddies have spoken about it to Alan Shipnuck gives me the feeling the truth will eventually come out.
Just what golf needs, more drama.