Phil Mickelson says he’s done gambling and is on the road to being ‘the person I want to be’

NEW YORK: Phil Mickelson won’t be betting on football this year — much less the Ryder Cup — saying in a lengthy social media post Monday that he previously crossed the line from moderation into addiction and “it wasn’t any fun.”

“The money wasn’t ever the issue since our financial security has never been threatened, but I was so distracted I wasn’t able to be present with the ones I love and caused a lot of harm,” Mickelson wrote in the post.

His public admission of a gambling addiction comes more than a month after renowned gambler Billy Walters wrote in his book that Mickelson wagered more than $1 billion over the last three decades and wanted to place a $400,000 bet on the 2012 Ryder Cup while playing for Team USA.

Mickelson denied ever betting on the Ryder Cup, which starts next week outside Rome.

Mickelson has been relatively quiet since Walters did a media tour in August for his book, “Gambler: Secrets from a Life of Risk.” He returns to competition this week with Saudi-backed LIV Golf outside Chicago.

Walters said he formed a gambling partnership with Mickelson in 2008 that lasted until 2014.

Two years later, Walters was indicted in an insider trading case that partly involved stock tips that prosecutors alleged he passed to Mickelson. Walters says he never gave Mickelson inside information and could have avoided prison if Mickelson had only testified on his behalf.

Mickelson appears to reference Walters in his post.

“If you ever cross the line of moderation and enter into addiction, hopefully you won’t confuse your enablers as friends like I did,” he wrote. “Hopefully you won’t have to deal with these difficult moments publicly so others can profit off you like I have.

“But hopefully you WILL have a