Book: Mickelson wagered with McCord during tourneys

Phil Mickelson’s gambling habits are the stuff of legend — or infamy, depending on who you ask.

The 51-year-old golfer — who is not playing in this week’s PGA Championship over controversy surrounding his involvement with a Saudi-backed league — is the subject of an upcoming biography called “Phil.” Writer Alan Shipnuck spoke to Gary McCord, a longtime golf analyst for CBS, who had some crazy revelations about gambling with Mickelson live on matches while he was playing.

An excerpt from the book was shared with the Times of London.

“When I was in the TV tower, every time Phil got to my hole, Bones [his caddie Jim Mackay] would look up at me and I would flash the odds,” McCord said. “If Phil had a 15footer, I’d flash three fingers, which meant the odds were 3-1. If he was 60 feet, I’d give him 2-1 on a twoputt. Bones would go down and whisper in his ear, and Phil would look up at me and shake his head, yes or no.

“I can’t tell you how many wadded-up twenties I threw out of the tower, until the Tour found out about it and I got word through CBS I was no longer allowed to gamble with Phil while up in the tower.”

You read that Mickelson was correctly: gambling on himself during PGA Tour matches with an announcer who was literally throwing cash from the tower.

The fact they were only wagering twenties is somewhat surprising, considering a previous excerpt from the same book revealed that Mickelson lost a staggering $40 million gambling from 2010-14.

That said, they had done it enough that they were able to get it down to simple hand signals, so perhaps those twenties added up over the years.

McCord, a former professional golfer, worked at CBS from 1986 until he was let go by the network in 2019. He was known as one of the more colorful personalities in the golf world.