Federal auditors investigating Phil Mickelson’s involvement in an insider trading case found that his gambling losses exceeded $40 million between 2010 and 2014, according to an excerpt from journalist Alan Shipnuck’s forthcoming biography of the golfer. .
Shipnuck posted the excerpt on his “Firepit Collective” website on Thursday. His unauthorized biography of him on Mickelson will be out May 17, to coincide with the PGA Championship. Mickelson is the current champion and has not said if he will participate in the competition.
Mickelson has been kept out of the public eye since the final round of the Saudi International tournament on February 6. Shortly afterward, Shipnuck published Mickelson’s explosive comments about his involvement in a Saudi-backed Greg Norman golf project.
Mickelson dismissed Saudi Arabia’s human rights record, including the murder of Washington Post reporter Jamal Khashoggi, when he said getting involved with the Saudis was worth it if it would help him get what he wanted from the PGA tour.
Mickelson was charged in the 2016 insider trading case in which notorious gambler Billy Walters was sent to prison. Walters was later released and claims that he is writing a book.
In the most recent excerpt on the $40 million gambling losses, Shipnuck wrote that government auditors investigated Mickelson’s finances for four years, from 2010 to 2014. The author cited a source with direct access to the documents.
Mickelson’s annual income in 2012, at the time of the Dean Foods stock deal that netted him nearly $1 million in a week, was estimated at about $48 million.
