An article from the NY Times:
Pro golfer Phil Mickelson dropped a good five percent of his salary on gambling debts in 2012, it emerged in Manhattan federal court on Thursday.
In Sept. 2012, Mickelson forked over close to $2 million for gambling debts to professional gambler Billy Walters, according to documents presented at Walters’ insider trading trial on Thursday.
That year, the PGA winner earned $48 million, the same court document said.
The sneak peak into Mickelson’s gambling habit was presented to a Manhattan federal jury charged with deciding whether Walters illegally traded on stock tips he got from a director pal at butter company Dean Foods. Walters has plead not guilty.
The feds claim that Walters passed some of those allegedly illegal tips to Mickelson — known to fans as “Lefty” — in July 2012, at a time when Mickelson owed him money for gambling.
Mickelson earned close to one $1 million on the trades, documents showed. A few months later, the golfer handed Walters $1.95 million, documents showed.
“Mr. Mickelson owed similar debt to Mr. Walters in the past,” prosecutor Brooke Cucinella told the jury.
Mickelson agreed to return $1.1 million in a deal he cut with financial regulators. He was not charged with wrongdoing and has said he will not be called to testify at Walters’ trial.
http://nypost.com/2017/03/30/phil-mickelson-once-spent-nearl y-2m-to-pay-off-a-gambling-debt/
