Following a report that he received insider information, it appears Phil Mickelson is ready to battle the claims in court.
Taking to X on Friday, the 6-time major champion said that he’s retained famed defamation counsel Tom Clare to “to advise and represent” him regarding the report that was first published by Hunterbrook last week. Mickelson also implied potential legal action against anyone who shared the article, which alleges that he received inside information about the Houston-based oil startup Sable Offshore, which he then distributed to a private group chat.
“I know from experience that being in the public eye makes me a frequent target for sensationalized media coverage,” Mickelson wrote on X. “I get that it comes with the territory but there are legal limits on false reports. And while I may have been willing to ‘let it go’ in the past, I’m no longer going to sit quietly and take it when those lines are crossed.”
The 55-year-old added: ” More to come….Lots,” before punctuating the post with a winking face emoji.
The timing of Mickeson’s post doesn’t seem coincidental, as it comes just hours after Pablo Torre Finds Out released an episode about the story featuring one of its co-authors, Sam Koppelman. In the week since the Hunterbrook story was first published, Mickelson has replied to social media posts from the outlet, Torre and others denying any wrongdoing.
“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,” he wrote. “I have to wait to see what the info is, I make no trades whatsoever and am ultra ultra careful given past history. I don’t even share that information is coming til after the close. And you insinuate wrong doing? This looks like stock manipulation on their part and slanderous. Did they make any trades today?”
To this point, Mickelson has only implied potential legal action. Obviously, it will certainly be interesting to see whether he follows through and how his case fares if he does.
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.