Phil Mickelson ‘gambled greater than £786m’ alleges former betting accomplice

Six-time main champion and LIV Golf star Phil Mickelson is alleged to have gambled greater than £786 million ($1bn) in line with his former betting accomplice Billy Walters. Mickelson has made no secret of his playing exploits, revealing to Sports Illustrated again in 2022 that it grew to become ‘reckless’.

One man the American star had partnered with within the betting business is Walters, and the skilled gambler has opened up on his relationship with Mickelson. The 77-year-old revealed all in his soon-to-be-published guide “Gambler: Secrets from a Life at Risk”.

In an extract per Golf Digest, Walters – who was convicted of insider buying and selling in 2017 – discusses he first got here into contact with Mickelson on the 2006 Pebble Beach Pro-Am, earlier than formally changing into companions within the Pro-Am on the Wachovia Championship two years later. Outlining their settlement, Walters wrote: “More than once throughout our betting partnership, I found myself compelled to offer some quiet counsel to help Phil avoid some of the same issues that plagued me as a younger man.

“I want to make clear that I’m the last person to criticise someone for an addiction to anything. From the start, our betting agreement—one we verbally negotiated—called for us to split everything fifty-fifty. Phil put up half the money; I put up the other half. That way, we shared an equal amount of risk and reward.”

Later on, the American entrepreneur went on to debate the sheer extent of their wins and losses, with Mickelson alleged to have misplaced ‘close to $100 million’ and wagered a staggering $1 billion. Walters revealed: “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.

“In all, he wagered a total of more than $1 billion during the past three decades. The only other person I know who surpassed that kind of volume is me. Remarkably Walters also alleged that Mickelson asked him to wager on the 2012 Ryder Cup on Medinah, an event the LIV star was competing in. “Phil called me from Medinah Country Club just outside Chicago, site of the 39th Ryder Cup matches between the United States and Europe,” he wrote.