Okay, it’s now official, Phil Mickelson has ties to convicted criminals.
Greg Silveira, described as a “sports handicapper” from La Quinta and a known associate of Lefty’s is going to the slammer.
This week Silverira was sentenced to a year in prison on a money laundering conviction.
This was the case where Mickelson wired in nearly $3 million to basically fund what was supposed to be a gambling operation.
Mickelson’s Teflon spray worked wonders and he didn’t even get a slap on the wrist for this round of shenanigans.
To date, the PGA Tour has not disciplined Mickelson for his gambling involvements.
6 Comments
beege
The complete utter disregard to the PGA Tour Handbook by Tm Finchem tells a huge story in itself. The favorite son Phil is untouchable, while the unfavorable son Vijay Singh is torched. This, to me shows any golfer can do anything they want, go directly to this case and be cleared immediately. The Tour has no backbone.
Phil should be suspended for 6 months, fined $500,000. He should withdraw from The St. Jude this morning and go into exile.
Tom Edrington
Wow Bob, I know Phil is glad you’re not the Commish…..we don’t know what conversations he may have had, the PGA Tour is VERY secretive when it comes handling out discipline. But you are correct, Lefty has gotten away with a lot of shenanigans with some shady characters. Not sure the 500k would mean much to him that’s basically a half a week’s pay in his scheme of things.
beege
Hi Tom,
Of course you are correct about the money being meaningless to Phil but the 6 months is serious. For the Tour to basically pull a “mission impossible” phrase and disavow(sp?) any knowledge of his actions is so biased it makes their “rules” a complete joke.
The total lack of transparency in this and many other deeds on the part of the tour makes it a laughing stock of sports organizations akin to the IOC. The Tour wants to be considered like the NFL, MLB and NBA but acts like a corrupt political league. Someone in the fake golf media has to stand up to the Tour and i am more than willing to do so.
Tom Edrington
The thing about the tour is that over the decades since its inception in 1968, it has had very few problems when it comes to deportment, unlike the NBA, NFL and Major League baseball. As team sports it is a huge deal to have affiliations with known gamblers. Heck, they told Joe Namath to sell his stake in the Bachelors III nightclub back in the 60s because of who the other partners were. We all know the Pete Rose saga. Golfers, especially the high-profile stars like Palmer and Nicklaus have been model citizens. Yes, the PGA Tour has been fortunate and I think in this case, they simply don’t know what is appropriate. Mickelson is getting closer to the age where he will simply slip into retirement or transition to the Champions Tour where he will be the biggest draw they’ve had since Palmer and Nicklaus.
beege
Tom, they simply in this day and age of information flow and public knowledge of just about everything- still show a lack of transparency and a lack of equal fairness. Regardless of his age, tour status and popularity the Tour cannot ignore its own handbook. This is not a gray area it is a black and white as it can be. He needs to be suspended for a just period of time that fits this clear violation.
bob
Tom Edrington
You’re preaching to the choir, Bob….but you know they just kicked this one under the carpet.