Phil Mickelson vehemently denied claims he asked a sports gambler to place a $400,000 bet on the US entry into the 2012 Ryder Cup — a team the famed golfer was a part of.<\/b>
\nPhil 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 \u2014 a team that featured the famed golfer.
\u201cI 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,\u201d he said in a statement on Thursday.
\u201cI 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. \u201c
On Thursday, an excerpt of Billy Walters\u2019 book, \u201cThe Gambler,\u201d 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.
\u201cHave you lost your f\u2013king mind?\u201d Walters recalled asking the golfer, invoking former Cincinnati Reds manager Pete Rose, who was banned from baseball for betting on his own team.
\u201cYou\u2019re seen as a modern-day Arnold Palmer,\u201d Walters said. \u201cYou\u2019d risk all that for this? I want no part of it.\u2019\u2019
Walters, who was convicted of insider trading in 2017 and granted clemency by Donald Trump in 2020, estimated that Mickelson placed $1 billion in bets over a 30-year period.
Walters described Mickelson\u2019s reputation as a losing gambler, helping him gain access to placing large wagers with bookmakers who would severely limit the size of Walters\u2019 bets because he was a known winner.
\u201cMy reason for partnering with him was simple. Given my reputation in the gambling world, my limits with Phil\u2019s two bookmakers were roughly $20,000 a game on college and $50,000 on the pros,\u201d Walters wrote.
\u201cEven after our fifty-fifty split, Phil\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n