Golfing ace: ‘Gambling addiction left hurricane-like trail of destruction’

Six-time major winner Phil Mickelson has spoken candidly about the harm caused by his gambling addiction.

Mickelson, who reputedly gambled over $1billion in three decades, said his behaviour caused untold damage to his loved ones.

On X, formerly Twitter, the 53-year-old golfer paid tribute to his wife for getting him through his “darkest and most difficult times”.

‘Cleaning up’

Mickelson admitted his addiction “affected those I care about in ways I wasn’t aware or could fully understand. It’s like a hurricane is going on outside and I’m isolated in a shelter oblivious to what was happening.

“When I came out there was so much damage to clean up that I just wanted to go back inside and not deal with it.”

He added: “I still have a lot of cleaning up to do with those I love the most but I’m doing it slowly and as best I can.”

Vulnerable gamblers

In July, a coroner criticised Betfair after one of its customers – a recovering gambling addict – committed suicide following a relapse.

Leicester area coroner found that Luke Ashton’s “gambling disorder” contributed to his death and that Betfair “may have changed the outcome” if it had taken more steps than just sending him automatic “awareness” emails.

A spokesman for Betfair owner Flutter UK & Ireland said: “We have a made a number of changes to our systems and controls since early 2021 and remain committed to incorporating additional learnings from this case.”

Earlier this year, the Government was criticised for ‘kicking the can down the road’ by submitting the majority of its proposed gambling measures to consultation, rather than seeking to introduce them directly into law.