\nGULLANE, Scotland (AP) \u2014 Five-time major champion Phil Mickelson refused to comment on allegations linking him to an illegal gambling operation, saying Wednesday he is used to being an \u201cobject to be discussed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tESPN reported last week that $2.75 million belonging to Mickelson was transferred to a former sports gambling handicapper, who pleaded guilty to laundering money. According to court documents obtained by ESPN, the money was part of \u201can illegal gambling operation which accepted and placed bets on sporting events.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cThe fact is, I\u2019m comfortable enough with who I am as a person that I don\u2019t feel I need to comment on every little report that comes out,\u201d Mickelson said, when asked for a response to the ESPN report.<\/p>\n
\tESPN reported that Mickelson, one of the biggest names in the sport, hasn\u2019t been charged with a crime and isn\u2019t under federal investigation.<\/p>\n
\tGregory Silveira of La Quinta, California, pleaded guilty to three counts of money laundering of funds from an unnamed gambling client of his between February 2010 and February 2013, according to ESPN, and is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 5.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cWhen I started to understand that I was more of an object to be discussed, it took out the personal element of when people say things,\u201d Mickelson said. \u201cPeople are going to say things good, they are going to say things bad. They are going to say things true, they are going to say things not true.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tMickelson was more forthcoming on the issue of Donald Trump\u2019s comments about Mexican immigrants, saying he was \u201cdisappointed\u201d and that the real estate mogul\u2019s remarks have put golfers \u201cin an awkward situation.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cWe don\u2019t agree with those comments but we are appreciative of what he\u2019s done to promote the game of golf, and that puts everybody in a tough spot,\u201d Mickelson said.<\/p>\n
\tTrump, a Republican presidential candidate, is facing a backlash, with the PGA of America announcing Tuesday it is moving the Grand Slam of Golf from his course in Los Angeles. NBC, Univision and Macy\u2019s are among several businesses that already have cut ties to Trump over his comments.<\/p>\n
\tTrump has a long-standing relationship with golf, however, and his remarks about Mexican immigrants \u2014 who, he has claimed, are \u201ccriminals, drug dealers, rapists, etc\u201d in many cases \u2014 have placed golf in a difficult situation.<\/p>\n
\tWhile Mickelson is a high-profile player to speak out, fellow American Ryder Cup players Rickie Fowler and Jimmy Walker, who are also playing the Scottish Open in Gullane this week, didn\u2019t want to weigh into the controversy Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\tMickelson is back on Scotland\u2019s east coast for the first time since winning the 2013 British Open at Muirfield, a course situated a short walk from Gullane. Mickelson closed with a 6-under 66 \u2014 playing the last six holes in 4 under \u2014 to lift the claret jug for the first time, for what he says is \u201cprobably the most special victory of my career.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tThe 45-year-old American hasn\u2019t won a tournament since.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cI am going to stop by (Muirfield),\u201d said Mickelson, who has his family with him in Scotland this week \u2014 just as he did in 2013 when he won the Scottish and British Opens in successive weeks. \u201cI\u2019d love to just walk the back nine again. It\u2019s probably the best nine holes of golf I\u2019ve ever played.\u201d<\/p>\n
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GULLANE, Scotland (AP) \u2014 Five-time major champion Phil Mickelson refused to comment on allegations linking him to an illegal gambling operation, saying Wednesday he is used to being an \u201cobject to be discussed.\u201d ESPN reported last week that $2.75 million…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8975","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-latest-casino-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8975","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8975"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8975\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}