Phil Mickelson attempted to wager $400,000 on the U.S. to win the 2012 Ryder Cup, an event he competed in, according to famous sports bettor Billy Walters. Walters claims Mickelson wanted Walters to place the bet on Mickelson’s behalf as part of a gambling partnership they had formed years earlier.
Walters said he declined, asking Mickelson if he had lost his mind.
“You’re seen as a modern-day Arnold Palmer,” Walters recalled telling Mickelson. “You’d risk all that for this? I want no part of it.’’
Walters said Mickelson agreed, but he’s unsure if Mickelson wagered on the event elsewhere.
The allegation is shared in Walters’ new book, Gambler: Secrets from a Life at Risk. An excerpt of the book, which is scheduled for release on August 22, was published Thursday by The Fire Pit Collective.
Micklelson’s wagering habits detailed
Alan Shipnuck, partner at The Fire Pit Collective, authored a biography about Mickelson last year that included details about the golfer’s wagering habits. Shipnuck wrote about Mickelson losing tens of millions of dollars gambling, and that his habits as a sports bettor were often reckless.
Walters’ book adds significant detail to Shipnuck’s writing, as Walters has firsthand experience dealing with Mickelson’s betting habits. The two formed a sports gambling partnership around 2010. The reason for the partnership between Walters and Mickelson was not only a mutual interest in sports betting, but also to take advantage of Mickelson’s larger limits.
Walters explains that his reputation as a successful sports bettor meant his limits were $20,000 on college games and $50,000 on professional events. Mickelson’s limits with bookmakers were $400,000 on both college games and NFL games.
A thorough recordkeeper, Walters reported that between 2010 and 2014, Mickelson placed 7,065 wagers on football, basketball, and baseball. The professional golfer allegedly bet $110,000 to win $100,000 more than 1,000 times over those five years. In 2011, Mickelson placed an average of nine bets per day. One day that year, he placed 43 wagers on MLB games, losing over $140,000.
“Based on our relationship and what I’ve since learned from others, Phil’s gambling losses approached not $40 million, as has been previously reported, but much closer to $100 million,” Walters wrote. “In all, he wagered a total of more than $1 billion during the past three decades.”
Mickelson previously addressed his gambling habits in an exclusive interview with Sports Illustrated in 2022.
“My gambling got to a point of being reckless and embarrassing,” Mickelson told the outlet. “I had to address it. And I’ve been addressing it for a number of years and for hundreds of hours of therapy. I feel good where I’m at there. My family and I are and have been financially secure for some time.”
Mickelson told Sports Illustrated it was his gambling outside the golf course, not his wagers during practice rounds as a professional golfer, that was his problem. This week, a video of Mickelson wagering during a casual round with fellow professional golfer Bryson DeChambeau generated significant buzz among golf media and fans.
Phil Mickelson and Bryson DeChambeau playing 9 holes for $1K 😳 pic.twitter.com/hggZT5nlsV
— Action Network (@ActionNetworkHQ) August 8, 2023
“On the golf course, it’s creating competition,” Mickelson said. “But it’s the anxiety, the other things that come across with gambling off the course and addiction off the course, that I really needed to address.’’
Bigger details coming?
At the end of the excerpt, Walters addressed his multi-year stint in prison for insider trading. He was released in January 2021 after being found guilty in 2017.
In the book, Walters said Mickelson declined to publicly say that he never shared insider stock information. Walters believes if Mickelson had spoken up, he would’ve avoided jail time.
“While this excerpt focuses solely on our betting relationship, my book explores how Phil finagled his way out of not one, but two cases that ended in criminal convictions,” Walters wrote. “As my book makes clear, Phil is not always the person he seems to be.”
