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The ramifications of Phil Mickelson's Super Golf League comments (3:39)

Phil Mickelson commented on the Saudi-financed Super Golf League. (3:39)

10:59 PM MSK

According to an excerpt from Alan Shipnuck's forthcoming biography, federal auditors found that Phil Mickelson lost more than 40 million dollars on gambling.

The excerpt was posted on his site Thursday. The unauthorized biography on Lefty is to be released on May 17. The defending champion is Mickelson. He hasn't said if he will play.

Since the final round of the Saudi International in February, Phil Mickelson has been out of the public eye. In a short time later, Shipnuck posted comments from Mickelson on his involvement in Greg Norman's Saudi-backed golf venture.

If it meant gaining leverage to get what he wanted from the PGA Tour, Phil Mickelson said it was worth getting involved with the Saudis.

Billy Walters, a noted gambler, was sentenced to prison in the 2016 insider trading case.

He said he is writing a book after being released.

In the most recent excerpt on the gambling losses, Shipnuck wrote that government auditors looked into the finances of the golfer over the course of four years. A source with direct access to the documents was cited by the author.

The time of the Dean Foods stock deal that netted the golfer nearly $1 million in one week was estimated to be about $48 million.

Money was a factor in his split with Jim andBones. He wrote that Mackay left after the Memorial over a series of grievances, including hundreds of thousands of dollars in back pay. There would be more details in the book.

Norman and his Saudi-funded golf investment company, LIV Golf Investments, were thought to have recruited Mickelson. He told Shipnuck that he recruited three players who paid attorneys to write the operating agreement of the new league.

The first LIV Golf Invitation series will be held outside of London in June, but the PGA Tour has a conflicting event release.

According to sources cited by the Telegraph in London, Phil Mickelson has received $30 million up front and must appear in each of the eight events that make up the LIV Golf Invitational series. The prize money for the tournaments is $20 million.

The team component of the game has not been announced.