"I'm not a betting man" - Phil Mickelson shares a 'true story' of committing a crime at the Augusta National ahead of the Masters

Six-time major winner Phil Mickelson shared an intriguing story from early in his golfing career via a video on X (formerly Twitter) on August 25. The incident Mickelson spoke about occurred when he won his first Masters title in 2004.

Prior to that, he began training with Dave Pelz, and they used a unique towel drills practice approach. This assisted him in winning tournaments, and he continued to do so prior to the start of his matches.

Phil Mickelson performed those drills at the 2004 Masters in Augusta National Golf Course. He spread down towels on the right side of the clubhouse and practised towel drills, which helped him hit long shots and win his first green jacket.

He went to Augusta a year later and attempted to practice his technique. However, to his surprise, there was a sign on the East course that read:

"East practice range is for short game only."

This did not deter the 45-time PGA Tour winner from continuing his practice, though.

He waited until all of the golfers left for the Champions dinner before crawling down and removing the board. Mickelson then wriggled back and threw the board into the back of his SUV. When he returned to the golf field the next day, the sign was gone, and he practised.

When he returned to Augusta in 2006, he saw the same board. Mickelson tried to carry out his plan once again, but to his amazement, when he arrived in the morning to practice, the board was still there, with cameras all around.

A video of him crawling down the Magnolia made the rounds, with a person in the video saying:

"Look at this idiot, what's he doing?"

Phil Mickelson went on to remark that people may bet that it is not a true story, but since he is not into betting, it is.

"You might bet that that's not a true story. But now I'm not a betting man, so I'm going to take it. But I wouldn't do that because it's a true story,' said Mickelson.

He may claim that he's not a betting man. However, Phil Mickelson's gambling recently made headlines again after Billy Walters announced his book, "Gambler: Secrets from a Life at Risk," earlier this month.

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"He disappointed me" - When Bily Walters spoke about Phil Mickelson

Billy Walters, one of America's most successful betters, released a book on Phil Mickelson's gambling habits on August 22. In his book, he slammed the golfer for breaking his trust and not testifying to him in 2017 when Walters was arrested in an insider trading case and was jailed.

Speaking about Mickelson in an interview with Sports Illustrated, Walters said:

"I just misjudged him. I looked at Phil as a friend, and he's somebody that I respected. And unfortunately, when it was time to come forward and be a stand-up guy, he disappointed me.

"The biggest disappointment to me in the book, and the only reason Phil is in the book, is because I thought he and I were friends. I've always prided myself on being a good judge of character. And I was hurt."

According to Walters, Mickelson wagered $1 billion in gambling and lost approximately $100 million. He attempted to place a $40 million bet on the Ryder Cup as well.