Phil Mickelson shot an opening round 67 at the St. Jude Classic in a tune up tournament before the U.S. Open, but what role will his rumored insider trading probe play in his future? Friend of Mickelson and ESPN commentator Paul Azinger believes that Phil is innocent and that he had no idea of any wrong doing that was going on.
Azinger captained Mickelson on the 2008 Ryder Cup team and spoke about his recent run in with that law and believes Phil is in the clear.
“I don’t think Phil Mickelson has a malicious bone in his body. I know he doesn’t,” said Azinger. “He’s in a tough spot now, I suppose. I know Billy Walters personally, and I know he’s a professional gambler, and I think the feds have been after Billy Walters for a long time. I don’t know what the relationships there are, but I don’t think that Phil has ever done anything with any kind of intent. But it’s just an opinion. I don’t know what’s going on or the depth of what’s going on.”
“I believe anything and everything Phil Mickelson says as far as that goes at this point. I’m going to go ahead and go out on a limb in that regard,” he said. “Phil, as smart as he is, he can be pretty naïve, too, about things, in worldly things. So I’ll just add that.”
Mickelson has played some of his best golf when he has some outside distraction in his life and has risen to the occasion by using golf as his escape from real life. Mickelson is being investigated for allegedly being involved in some insider trading with his stock in Clorox among others.
According to the Wall Street Journal’s original article on the matter, Phil’s trades were suspiciously close to when the stock was primed to sell.
The traders — a cross-section of investors including the championship golfer Phil Mickelson and the high-rolling gambler and golf course owner William T. Walters — collectively reaped several million dollars betting on the consumer products company Clorox and one other stock
The trades, options contracts to buy Clorox stock, came just days before the billionaire investor Carl C. Icahn announced an unsolicited takeover bid for the company that drove up the stock price.
Mickelson continues on at St. Jude and will be active for the U.S. Open next week as he attempts to compete the career Grand Slam. Mickelson has six second-place finishes in his career at the U.S. Open.
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