Phil Mickelson has wagered more than $1 billion, tried to bet on USA in Ryder Cup, according to new book by renowned gambler

BEDMINSTER, N.J. — According to a new book, Phil Mickelson gambled more than $1 billion on sports, and despite previous denials of betting on golf, allegedly tried to wager $400,000 on his Team USA to win the 2012 Ryder Cup.

Those claims are made by Billy Walters, a former Mickelson friend who placed six-figure bets for the golfer, in his book,“Gambler: Secrets of a Life at Risk.” The stunning excerpts were released by Fire Pit Collective early Thursday morning, around the time Mickelson teed off in a LIV Pro-Am event at Trump National.

Later, when Mickelson was first approached for comment by a half-dozen reporters coming off the 18th green, he said he was “going to take a pass” on addressing those allegations. By Thursday evening, however, Mickelson  released a denial.

    “I never bet on the Ryder Cup,” Mickelson said in the statement. “While it is well known that I always enjoy a friendly wager on the course, I would never undermine the integrity of the game.

     “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. “    

Mickelson, who signed with LIV for a reported $200 million, previously has admitted to a high-stakes gambling addiction, telling Sports Illustrated in 2022 that it was “reckless” and “embarrassing.” But the allegations by Walters, a notorious gambler who claimed to have a 30-year winning streak, seemingly launch Lefty’s exploits to a different level.

Despite the eye-popping sums —   with Walters saying that he partnered with Mickelson to place 7,065 wagers on football, baseball and basketball through offshore accounts for nearly a decade — the attempt to bet on the Ryder Cup stands out as the most damning accusation. Walters details how Mickelson called him from the Medinah Country Club in Chicago to put $400,000 on Team USA, which included Tiger Woods and Bubba Watson as teammates. But Walter refused.

“Have you lost your [expletive] mind,” Walters says he told Mickelson. “Don’t you remember what happened to Pete Rose? You’re seen as a modern-day Arnold Palmer . . .  You’d risk all that for this? I want no part of it.”

“Alright, alright,” Mickelson replied, according to the book.

Walters did acknowledge, however, that he was unsure if Mickelson later placed the bet with someone else. As it turned out, the European team pulled off the greatest comeback in Ryder Cup history — known as the “Miracle at Medinah” — to beat Team USA by one point.

The size of Mickelson’s wagers never really were a concern, Walters writes, because the golfer was worth an estimated $250 million during their partnership, which sprung from playing together at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am in 2006. Two years later, they met at another event — sealing the agreement — and Walters recalled when the two played with each other, they “always had a small bet on the line, usually $10,000.”

Walters' description of Mickelson’s offshore gambling reserves were another story. Because of Walters' reputation in the industry, bookies put a ceiling on what he could wager, but that wasn’t the case for Mickelson. It’s what tipped off Walters to the scope of Mickelson’s potential losses, which he figured to be in the neighborhood of $100 million.

“In all the decades I’ve worked with partners and beards, Phil had accounts as large as anyone I’d seen,” Walters wrote. “You don’t get those types of accounts without betting millions of dollars.”

Walters goes into great detail on Mickelson’s specific wagers, too. Of particular note, he says that Mickelson, on 858 occasions, bet $220,000 to win $200,000, explaining that the sum of those 1,973 wagers totaled more than $311 million. 

“Phil liked to gamble as much as anyone I’ve ever met,” Walter said. “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 said the gambling arrangement ended in 2014, but the relationship crumbled three years later when Walters was convicted on charges of conspiracy, securities fraud and wire fraud. Mickelson refused to testify on his behalf, and Walters received a five-year sentence in federal prison, though it was commuted by then-President Donald Trump. Walters remains bitter about what he views as Mickelson’s betrayal.

“Phil Mickelson, one of the most famous people in the world and a man I once considered a friend, refused to tell a simple truth that he shared with the FBI and could have kept me out of prison,” Walters wrote. “I never told him I had inside information about stocks and he knows it. All Phil had to do was publicly say it. He refused.

“The outcome cost me my freedom, tens of millions of dollars and a heartbreak I still struggle with daily. While I was in prison, my daughter committed suicide — I still believe I could have saved her if I’d been on the outside.”

By David Lennon

dave.lennon@newsday.comDPLennon

David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.