Pretty much everyone knows that Lefty likes to gamble, but over $1 billion in bets is just so outrageous…
Phil Mickelson is one of the most successful golfers of all-time. Since winning his first PGA Tour event as an amateur in 1991, he’s racked up 6 major championships, 3 Masters, 2 PGA Championships, and one Open Championship. He’s won every major except for the US Open, finishing in second place a record six times, and has been ranked in the top 50 of the Official World Gold Rankings for over 25 consecutive years.
With all of those accomplishments comes a ton of money and Phil has reportedly earned over $1 billion over his long career, according to Yahoo Sports.
But what do you do with all of that money? Buy a bunch of houses and cars? Invest in the stock market and hope for the best? Lend money to growing businesses or donate a ton to charity?
While I’m sure Phil has done a bit of all of that over the years, a book coming out soon pulls back the curtain on his spending habits, and the amount he’s wagered on sports over the years is mind-boggling.
As reported by ESPN, Billy Walters, a professional gambler widely considered to be the greatest of all-time, wrote in his upcoming book Gambler: Secrets from a Life of Risk that Phil has lost around $100 million while betting over $1 billion total dollars over the past three decades.
He specifically cites a period from 2010 to 2014 where Phil put down 858 bets of $220,000 and 1,115 bets of $110,000.
The book also alleges he tried to bet on the 2012 Ryder Cup, an event Phil was playing in.
That’s obviously a big no-no, and Walters claims that he refused to take the bet, but doesn’t know if Phil placed it elsewhere.
An excerpt from the book reads.
“Phil liked to gamble as much as anyone I’ve ever met. 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…
In all the decades I’ve worked with partners and beards, Phil had accounts as large as anyone I’d seen. You don’t get those accounts without betting millions of dollars”
The two went their separate ways after Phil refused to testify at Billy’s trial after being charged with insider trading.
While he was convicted, Donald Trump commuted the sentence while he was president. Since then, Phil claims to have stopped gambling and goes further to say he’s approaching billionaire status.
One billion dollars… Man, I get nervous dropping $15 on a game, I can’t imagine what that rush feels like.
Of course, this isn’t the first time Phil’s been in the news recently, as he received a lot of backlash after signing with LIV Golf, taking in what was reported to be a $200 million contract.
The never ending stream of outrageous Phil Mickelson things continues.
My goodness, one billion dollars…
