Phil Mickelson vehemently denied claims he asked a sports gambler to place a $400,000 bet on the U.S. entry in the 2012 Ryder Cup — a team that featured the famed golfer.
“I never 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,” he said in a statement on Thursday.
“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. “
On Thursday, an excerpt of Billy Walters’ book, “Gambler: Secrets from a Life at Risk,” was published on the Firepit Collective, detailing the bombshell betting allegation against Mickelson, a notorious bettor.
According to Walters, a legendary gambler, he and Mickelson had a partnership in which Walters would provide betting plays, and Mickelson would place them.
“Have you lost your f–king mind?” Walters recalled asking the golfer, invoking former Cincinnati Reds manager Pete Rose, who was banned from baseball for betting on his own team.
“You’re seen as a modern-day Arnold Palmer,” Walters said. “You’d risk all that for this? I want no part of it.’’
Walters, who was convicted of insider trading in 2017 and granted clemency by Donald Trump in 2021, estimated that Mickelson placed $1 billion in bets over a 30-year period.
Walters described Mickelson’s reputation as a losing gambler, helping him gain access to placing large wagers with bookmakers who would severely limit the size of Walters’ bets because he was a known winner.
“My reason for partnering with him was simple. Given my reputation in the gambling world, my limits with Phil’s two bookmakers were roughly $20,000 a game on college and $50,000 on the pros,” Walters wrote.
“Even after our fifty-fifty split, Phil’s limits of $400,000 on college at offshore sportsbooks and another $400,000 on the NFL enabled me to at least double my limits. Phil also had a $100,000 limit on college over/under bets with each book, twenty times my maximum.”