Phil Mickelson, affectionately known as Lefty, is undeniably one of the greatest American golfers of all time. He has won 45 times on the PGA Tour in his career, with six major championships to his name.
When he won the 2021 PGA Championship, Mickelson became the oldest-ever major-winning golfer at the age of 50 years and 11 months. However, an acrimonious departure to the Saudi-backed LIV Golf Tour soon after sullied his reputation among many purists, even if he retains his place as a true Hall-of-Famer.
But there’s another side to Lefty’s personality that not everyone knows about.
Here, we introduce you to Phil Mickelson, the gambler, not the golfer. Specifically, his betting history, in which he has reportedly placed over $1 billion in wagers throughout his career.
Billy Walters’ Bombshell Revelations
Though some golf fans were aware that Phil Mickelson liked to gamble on other sports, few realised the extent to which he wagered his winnings.
However, his gambling history came to light in the 2023 release of Billy Walters’ book, Gambler, Secrets from a Life at Risk.
In it, Walters documents that Mickelson would regularly gamble between $100,000 and $200,000 on football, baseball, and basketball games. In fact, he charts thousands of bets Mickelson placed between 2010 and 2014 when the American was at the pinnacle of his golfing career.
All told, Lefty placed over 7,000 bets, according to Walters, via offshore accounts. While he limited himself to $400,000 per game, Mickelson’s gambling included:
- 1,115 bets of $110,000 to win $100,000.
- 858 bets of $220,000 to win $200,000.
- 43 bets on MLB games in 2011, losing $143,500.
- 7,065 bets on football, basketball, and baseball over a four-year period.
As reported by CBC, Walters speculated on the extent of Phil’s losses over the years, based on his knowledge of his wagers and talking to others: “Phil’s gambling losses approached not $40 million as has been previously reported, but much closer to $100 million. In all, he wagered more than $1 billion during the past three decades.”
Attempted wager on the 2012 Ryder Cup
One of the most shocking revelations in the book came when Mickelson supposedly asked Walters to place a $400,000 bet on the 2012 Ryder Cup, a competition that the American was participating in:
“Phil called me from Medinah Country Club just outside Chicago, the site of the 39th Ryder Cup matches between the United States and Europe. He was feeling supremely confident that the American squad led by Tiger Woods, Bubba Watson, and Phil himself was about to reclaim the Cup from the Euros. He was so confident that he asked me to place a $400,000 wager for him on the US team to win.”
Fortunately for Phil, Walters refused the bet as the European team mounted a comeback that came to be known as the Miracle of Medina to win the Ryder Cup 14.5-13.5.
This revelation illustrates the extent of Mickelson’s gambling.
But the source needs to be questioned. Walters spent time in prison for insider trading and blames Mickelson for the role he played in the trial, which ultimately led to his incarceration.
Phil has never admitted to the proposed bet in question, but he has opened up about his gambling addiction, as we explain below.
Lefty’s Admission to a “hurricane-like” gambling addiction
In response to Walters’ revelations, Mickelson admitted to having a gambling addiction. In a 2023 post on X (formerly Twitter), Lefty explained: “I won’t be gambling this year because I crossed the line of moderation and into addiction, which isn’t any fun at all … it’s like a hurricane is going on outside and I’m isolated in a shelter oblivious to what was happening.
“When I came out, there was so much damage to clean up that I just wanted to go back inside and not deal with it.”
Mickelson’s situation is not uncommon in the US, with approximately 2.5 million adults across the country suffering from a gambling addiction. This is about 1% of the population, a statistic that will likely increase as more states move to legalise online sports betting and casino gambling.
What is surprising, perhaps to most bettors, is the sheer volume of bets Mickelson has placed over the years and the huge sums he has wagered.
Fortunately, Mickelson is now in a better place, dedicating his recovery to his partner: “Hopefully, you will have a strong and supportive partner who is willing to help you through being your worst self, and through your worst moments as I have in Amy … I couldn’t have gotten through this without her.”
Phil Mickelson today – golfer or gambler?
Billy Walters’ revelations highlight the darker side of sports betting. His accusations show that, if true, one of golf’s richest and most successful players of all time gambled and lost a huge percentage of his net worth at the height of his career.
While Mickelson has never publicly confirmed the numbers that Walters presents in his book, the fact that he has been open about his addiction is a sign that he has received support and is recovering from a difficult time in his life.
He has not publicly spoken about his gambling since 2023, but he has gone on the record to speak about his love for LIV Golf. Now 54, Mickelson has also spoken candidly about approaching the end of his career and when he might stop playing for good.
In a 2024 interview with SI, Lefty said: “I see glimpses, and my teammates see glimpses of me being where I expect to be able to compete at this level, but I’m also realistic with myself, and if I’m not able to I’ll step aside and let somebody come on in and take the HyFlyers to new levels.”
Mickelson is also an equity shareholder in the LIV Golf team, so even if he stops competing in the tournaments, he will be involved in the Saudi-backed golf league for the foreseeable future.
However, the career of Mickelson, the golfer, is now on a downward trajectory. He’s very unlikely to add a seventh major to his name, and we may not even see him at each of the majors, given his fractious relationship with the PGA Tour.
Still, for Lefty’s sake, we hope that Mickelson, the gambler, is no more and that he can enjoy the rest of his playing days with LIV Golf without feeling the pull of sports wagering.
You can explore the best regulated by UK authorities casino sites and betting platforms or if you have been affected by the content of this article and require support for problem gambling, please reach out to GamCare.
