BEDMINSTER (N.J.) — As Phil Mickelson began his pro-am at Trump National Bedminster for LIV Golf this week, Golf Digest released a juicy extract from a book by gambler Billy Walters.
Walters, who was a former gambling companion of Mickelson, said the 53-year old Lefty placed tens-of-thousands-of-dollars-worth of bets. He also claimed Mickelson had called him at the 2012 Ryder Cup in Medinah Country Club, near Chicago, and asked him to wager $400,000 on the U.S. winning team.
Mickelson declined to comment after a nine hole pro-am on Thursday. He said, “I’m going to pass today.” We’ll discuss later.
Walters used to be regarded as the country’s most successful sports bettor. He was sentenced in 2017 to five-years in prison after being convicted of conspiring to commit Insider Trading from 2008 to 2014.
The book will also go into greater detail about the insider-trading charges that led to his imprisonment. It is scheduled to be released on August 22. Mickelson agreed to repay $1.03million, including interest and profit, as a relief defendant.
Contributing Adam Schupak
