Golfing legend wagered over $1 billion dollars during his career
Phil Mickelson is claimed to have wagered over $1 billion over his 3 decades-long career.
A friend of the golfing legend, Billy Walters, himself a convicted inside trader, has claimed that Mickelson frequently sustained losses close to $100 million in his new book.
Walters and Mickelson
Walters detailed a partnership he had with Mickelson throughout a 5 year period. He names instances such as a time when Mickelson asked Walters to place a $400, 000 bet on the US Ryder Cup team, a wager that would have been unsuccessful to save the least.
He would most certainly place many more alternative bets between 2010 and 2014, as according to Walters, Mickelson placed an average close to 9 bets a day throughout 2011 alone.
Mickelson’s gambling problem
Mickelson has admitted to reckless gambling and has undergone therapy to address the issue.
Walters is certain the sheer amounts in losses are much greater than was previously believed, initially thought to be $40 million, Walters claims it was much closer to $100 million from a total spend somewhere in the realms of over $1 billion.
Walters emphatically states in his book:
“The only other person I know who surpassed that kind of volume is me.”
Michelson even explained his issues in a 2022 Sports Illustrated interview, claiming:
“My gambling got to a point of being reckless and embarrassing. I had to address it. And I’ve been addressing it for a number of years. And for hundreds of hours of therapy.”
He did conclude by expressing how this issue was seemingly behind him stating:
“I feel good where I’m at there. My family and I are, and have been, financially secure for some time.”
Walters’ worries
In an extract from the book, Walters explains how he attempted to deter Mickelson from his habit, suggesting that the golfing icon could meet an end similar to that of Baseball’s Pete Rose who received a lifetime ban when he was found to have wagered on the Cincinnati Reds while serving as the team’s manager.
Walters also claimed he wanted “no part of” the great risks Mickelson was taking through his wagers.
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