Two-time PGA champion Phil Mickelson is a billion-dollar man…in more ways than one.
Not only is the 53-year-old golf legend’s net worth nearly $1 billion, per sports media company ClutchPoints, but he’s reportedly gambled just as much over the course of his 30-year career, as revealed in the new bookThe Gambler by famed sports bettor Billy Walters.
According to a New York Post article citing an excerpt from the book published on golf-centric outlet Fire Pit Collective, Walters claims to have had a betting partnership with Mickelson for years, during which Walters would supply Mickelson with tips for high-limit bets.
Walters writes that he kept a “detailed betting record and additional records provided by the source” on $300 million worth of bets made by Mickelson between 2010 and 2014. Apparently the golfer bet $110,000 to win $100,000 over 1,100 times, and $220,000 to win $200,000 nearly 900 times.
In 2011, Mickelson placed more than 3,000 bets—an average of nine per day—43 of which were wagered on basketball games on a single day, amounting to a $143,500 loss.
“Based on our relationship and what I’ve since learned from others, Phil’s gambling losses [between 2010 and 2014] approached not $40 million as has been previously reported, but much closer to $100 million,” Walters writes.
“In all, he wagered a total of more than $1 billion during the past three decades.”
Additionally, Walters alleges that Mickelson requested for him to bet $400,000 on the golfer’s behalf on the U.S. Team in 2012, which Mickelson competed for as part of the Ryder Cup.
While many might consider Mickelson’s gambling habit a problem, Walters adds that he never took issue with the exorbitant wagers.
“As I said, Phil liked to gamble as much as anyone I’ve ever met,” Walters writes.
“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.”
This past June, Mickelson claimed he has not gambled “in years.” Regardless, he’s still a force on the pro golf circuit, having become the oldest major champion in PGA history in 2021.
And at the 2023 Masters Tournament, put on an incredible come-from-behind performance, beginning the final day ten shots off of the lead before tying for second.