Mark your calendars for Aug. 15, golf fans.
A book by Billy Walters, the famed sports bettor who went to prison in 2017 for insider trading, is expected to include details of his relationship with six-time major champion Phil Mickelson that may not paint the Lefty in the most positive light. Co-written by Armen Keteyian, author of Tiger, Gambler: Secrets from a Life at Risk will be published by Simon & Schuster and be available later this summer.
“In addition to an against-all-odds American dream story, it reveals in granular detail the secrets of Walters’s proprietary sports betting system, which will serve as a master class for tens of millions of recreational gamblers in America and around the world,” according to a press release. “Walters also breaks his silence about his long and complicated relationship with Hall of Fame professional golfer Phil Mickelson.”
Alan Shipnuck, who authored a biography on Mickelson released last year, said on the Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz in May of 2022 that Walters elected not to speak with him in order to save his thoughts for his own book.
“Phil’s nervous about that book, and he probably should be,” said Shipnuck.
Mickelson’s connection to Walters – reports said he once owed Walters $2 million in gambling debts – was brought to light in 2017 when Walters was found guilty of insider trading. Walters was convicted on all 10 counts against him, fined $10 million and sentenced to five years in prison while Mickelson was ordered to pay back trading profits totaling $931,738 plus interest of $105,292, but otherwise skated free on a technicality.
Walters was released from prison in May 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and was serving the rest of his five-year sentence at home. In 2021, President Donald Trump commuted Walters’ sentence with one of his final acts in office. A White House statement claimed Mickelson – as well as swing instructor Butch Harmon and TV commentators David Feherty and Peter Jacobsen – helped with the commutation.
Mickelson’s attorney refuted the claim, calling the press release “erroneous” and stating “Phil had nothing to do with this.”
Now a face of the LIV Golf League, Mickelson and his Hy Flyers will return to action later this month with the upstart circuit’s first event of 2023 in Mexico.
