Phil Mickelson has been in the spotlight for more than three decades, dating to his dominant amateur golf career. Lefty turned pro in 1992 and racked up 45 PGA Tour wins, including six major titles, with countless near misses, including six runner-up finishes at the U.S. Open.
Mickelson played second fiddle to Tiger Woods during much of his PGA Tour tenure, but it was a lucrative position in a sport that sponsors flock to because of the high-disposable-income demographic of the fan base. Companies such as Callaway, KPMG and Workday gravitated to Mickelson as a pitch man for their products and services, and Mickelson took in roughly $800 million in earnings off the course from sponsors, appearances and course-design fees.
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He’s earned another $100 million in prize money, and Mickelson scored his biggest payday last year with a move to the LIV Tour for a reported $200 million signing bonus. Sponsors fled Mickelson after the move, but it pushed his career earnings over $1 billion.
Now a much-anticipated book from professional gambler Billy Walters details Mickelson’s gambling habits while he was earning more than $40 million a year. “Phil liked to gamble as much as anyone I’ve ever met,” Walters wrote, according to an excerpt revealed Thursday by the Fire Pit Collective. “Frankly, given Phil’s annual income and net worth at the time, I had no problems with his betting. And still don’t. He’s a big-time gambler, and big-time gamblers make big bets. It’s his money to spend how he wants.”
Walter estimates Mickelson lost about $100 million while betting more than $1 billion over the past three decades. “The only other person I know who surpassed that kind of volume is me,” Walters wrote in Gambler: Secrets from a Life of Risk.
Walters wrote that Mickelson called him from the 2012 Ryder Cup asking him to place a $400,000 bet on the U.S. to win, and Walters responded: “Have you lost your %&*$ing mind? Don’t you remember what happened to Pete Rose? You’re seen as the modern-day Arnold Palmer. You’d risk all that for this? I want no part of it.”
On Thursday, Mickelson released a statement denying he bet on the Ryder Cup. “While it is well known that I always enjoy a friendly wager on the course, I would never undermine the integrity of the game,” Mickelson posted on social media. “I have also been very open about my gambling addiction. I have previously conveyed my remorse, took responsibility, have gotten help, have been fully committed to therapy that has positively impacted me and I feel good about where I am now.”
Walters and Mickelson were close but had a falling out in 2014 when federal authorities investigated a series of stock trades that they each made. Walters was charged with insider trading and convicted. Mickelson refused to testify on his behalf.
In 2017, Mickelson settled this civil case with the SEC over insider trading by agreeing to surrender his profits of nearly $1 million, plus interest. He did not admit or deny the allegations in the SEC’s complaint.
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