Phil Mickelson has enjoyed a life well-lived, but one that has at times been spent so close to the sun that he has gotten himself burned.
The 53-year-old golf superstar has never been able to resist the action, often pushing the envelope. And in some cases that lust for the rush of adrenaline has gotten him into trouble — on and off the golf course.
On Thursday — the eve of the first round of the LIV Golf event at Trump Bedminster in New Jersey — Mickelson was put in a position to have to react to serious allegations made by a person he never should have associated with in the first place.
Notorious lifelong sports gambler Billy Walters, in a tell-all book titled, “Gambler: Secrets from a Life at Risk,’’ detailed his relationship with Mickelson as both a “golf buddy’’ and a “betting partner.’’ And in the book, Walters charges that Mickelson wanted to place a large bet on the 2012 U.S. Ryder Cup team against Europe and that, in total, he gambled some $1 billion and lost about $100 million.
Walters, too, insinuates in the book that Mickelson played a part in his five-year jail sentence for insider trading, claiming that had Mickelson testified in his defense he could have avoided jail time. Walters even delivered back-handed blame to Mickelson when he wrote about his daughter committing suicide while he was in jail, saying he believes he could have prevented it had he not been locked up.
The most damning accusation to come out of the book excerpt, which was published on the Fire Pit Collective website on Thursday, was Walters alleging that Mickelson came to him wanting to bet $400,000 on the U.S. to win the Ryder Cup.
Mickelson on Thursday, after playing his pro-am round, emailed a statement to The Post vehemently denying Walters’ allegation.
“I never bet on the Ryder Cup,’’ Mickelson said. “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.’’
The first thing that needs to be unpacked here is who Walters is. He’s a lifelong gambler who was jailed for insider trading and has an ax to grind with Mickelson, who at the advice of his lawyers as a relief defendant, chose not to testify in Walters’ defense.
Walters was convicted for insider trading of Dean Foods stock, some of which Mickelson had purchased. Mickelson was never charged and had to repay the roughly $1 million he made off the stock deal. Walters was convicted and claimed he could have avoided prison if Mickelson had told a “simple truth.”
Walters said he never told Mickelson he had inside information on the Dean Foods stock and wrote: “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.’’
Those words from Walters tell you all you need to know about his motivation: retribution. So, to properly digest this story, we must consider the source of the allegations.
To also properly digest this story, though, we must consider Mickelson’s propensity for recklessness.
Mickelson’s association with Walters is the off-the-course equivalent to him trying, on the course, to cut that risky 3-iron around the trees with his second shot on the 72nd hole of the 2006 U.S. Open at Winged Foot after he had just bounced his tee shot off a hospitality tent.
Just as he never should have befriended Walters and gone into a betting partnership with him, Mickelson never should have tried that low-percentage second shot on the 18th at Winged Foot when he needed a par to win. He should have played it safe, punching out to perhaps at least get into a playoff with a bogey, instead of taking that risk and losing the only major he has never won with a double bogey.
