SAN DIEGO — Phil Mickelson hinted at legal action yesterday for being accused of “cheating,” saying that if the PGA Tour did not do something about him being “publicly slandered,” then he would let others handle it.

Mickelson didn’t mention Scott McCarron by name in a series of interviews after his third round at Torrey Pines.

McCarron was quoted in The San Francisco Chronicle on Friday as saying about Mickelson using the Ping-Eye 2 wedges with square grooves, “It’s cheating, and I’m appalled Phil has put it in play.”

The USGA has a new rule this year that irons have V-shaped grooves. Nevertheless, the Ping-Eye 2 wedges that were made before April 1, 1990, remain approved for play through a Ping lawsuit that was settled 20 years ago and takes precedence over new regulations.

Mickelson is using one of those wedges this week after reading about John Daly and Dean Wilson using them in Hawaii.

When asked Friday about McCarron’s quote about him cheating, Mickelson declined to get into what he referred to as “name-calling.” Instead, he suggested that McCarron was upset with the new rule on grooves.

But after a 70 in the third round put Mickelson within four shots of the lead, he made it clear he would not go quietly.

“We all have our opinions on the matter, but a line was crossed, and I just was publicly slandered,” Mickelson said. “And because of that, I’ll have to let other people handle that.”

Asked he was contemplating a lawsuit, Mickelson said, “I’m not going into specifics what that meant.”

Still, it was clear that his message reached PGA Tour headquarters. The tour released a statement during the third round explaining why the Ping-Eye 2 wedges with square grooves were approved for play.

“Public comments or criticisms characterizing their use as a violation . . . are inappropriate at best,” the statement said.

Told about the tour’s statement, Mickelson paused before saying it was “cool if they put that out there.”

“Again, everybody has their opinions and so forth, and it’s healthy to talk about it,” he said. “But when you cross that line and slander someone publicly, that’s when the tour needs to step in — or someone else.”

McCarron, who missed the cut at the Farmers Insurance Open, could not be reached for comment. He did not back off his criticism Friday of Mickelson using the wedges, though he used “bending the rules” instead of “cheating” in his comments.

He maintains that Mickelson, and others using the Ping wedges, are violating the spirit of the new rule.