Phil Mickelson’s former gambling partner Billy Walters has written of the six-time major winner’s betting exploits in “Gambler: Secrets from a Life at Risk”
Phil Mickelson wanted to bet $400,000 on USA to win the 2012 Ryder Cup, says his former gambling partner.
Billy Walters wrote in “Gambler: Secrets from a Life at Risk” that Mickelson requested the bet on the phone from Medinah to which Walters replied, “Have you lost your f****** mind?”
Walters pondered if the six-time major winner placed the bet elsewhere after talking him down from the wager, in an excerpt of the book first revealed by the Fire Pit Collective.
The author, who served five years in prison for insider trading, wrote in the excerpt Mickelson’s total gambling losses neared $100 million and his total stakes in the last three decades to be over $1 billion.
His intended bet on the Ryder Cup the USA famously lost is part of a list of wagers the author reports Mickelson placed between 2010 to 2014, including over 7,000 bets on American football, basketball and baseball.
Walters wrote Mickelson placed 3,154 bets in 2011 which is an average of nine per day, 43 of which came on June 22.
The pair began a betting partnership in 2010 after meeting in 2006 at Pebble Beach. Walters wrote that part of their agreement was to split everything 50/50 to share the risk and reward.
Walters was attracted to a partnership with Mickelson because of his extensive betting limits. He wrote his limits were $20,000 stakes in college football matches and $50,000 for professionals, but Mickelson’s supposedly reached $400,000.
“Phil liked to gamble as much as anyone I’ve ever met,” Walters wrote in the exceprt. “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.”
Walters and Mickelson had golf matches usually worth $10,000 according to the book and he would offer “quiet counsel” to Mickelson over gambling.
“In all the decades I’ve worked with partners and beards, Phil had accounts as large as anyone I’d seen,” he also wrote. “You don’t get those types of accounts without betting millions of dollars.”
The 45-time PGA Tour winner, who earned over $95 million on the US circuit, has previously described his gambling addiction as “reckless and embarrassing.”
Speaking at LIV Golf’s first-ever event at Centurion Golf Club in 2022, Mickelson said he’d had “hundreds of hours of therapy” and “worked tirelessly” to address his gambling issues.
Mickelson has responded to the excerpt released from Walters’ book:
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.
— Phil Mickelson (@PhilMickelson) August 10, 2023
I have also been very open about my gambling addiction. I have previously conveyed my remorse, took responsibility, have…
What do you think of the Billy Walters Phil Mickelson gambling excerpt? Tell us with a tweet!
Read more: Phil Mickelson says up to five LIV golfers could play in Ryder Cup
