Phil Mickelson showed Pat Perez’s wife ‘offensive’ pic of himself: Mickelson’s biography
Last year, Pat Perez revealed that he 'hates' Phil Mickelson. The golfer stated his disdain for the fellow LIV player and said he “cannot forgive” the 2021 PGA Tour champion for his actions. After a year, a new afterword to author Alan Shipnuck’s Mickelson biography has claimed that the golfer once showed Perez’s wife an ‘offensive’ picture that may have led to the fight.
It is pertinent to note that Perez never revealed the reason for his “different hate" towards Lefty. However, the newly published passages in Shipnuck's best-seller, Phil, allege that Mickelson showed Ashley Perez an “offensive” picture of himself while the trio were hanging out.
According to the book, Phil Mickelson had invited Perez and Ashley to dinner at Liberty National Golf Course, in New Jersey, during the 2015 Barclays tournament, where the incident took place. Alan Shipnuck’s book notes:
“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.”
While this is yet to be confirmed by any of the three people involved, it could explain Pat Perez’s ‘hate’ towards Mickelson. The book further notes that Perez declined to comment on the issue when approached by the author.
According to the book, Perez said, when approached to comment on the matter:
“It’s a matter between us. We handled it.”
Mickelson declined to comment altogether. However, Mickelson’s agent, Steve Loy, and Perez’s agent at the time, Jeff Koski, were both reportedly present at the dinner. The two agents have since dismissed Shipnuck’s account as “absolutely untrue,” according to Mickelson’s attorney.
Pat Perez on his 'hate' for Phil Mickelson
The issue between Phil Mickelson and Pat Perez first came to light last year when the latter openly slammed his fellow LIV player and said that he did something “unforgivable.” In November 2022, Perez was speaking on a podcast when he said that he carried a "different hate" for Mickelson.
Speaking on the Son of a Butch podcast, Pat Perez said:
"When it comes to Phil, I have a different hate for Phil than most people. 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 added:
“He knows that he screwed up. He apologized for the accident, but I cannot forgive him for it because I've known Phil for a long, long time. I've known the guy forever.”
Interestingly, Perez, who declined to explain further on the matter, added that people "won't know the story." At the time, the comments were noted by fans as a possible follow-up to the two golfers' fallout after Phil Mickelson's harsh comments on the Saudi Arabian royal family ahead of his move to LIV Golf.