Fire Drill 088: Gambler – An EXCLUSIVE Excerpt from Billy Walters’s New Autobiography
With Alan Shipnuck and Matt Ginella
In this Fire Drill podcast, Alan Shipnuck and Matt Ginella go deep on the first, hotly anticipated excerpt from Billy Walters’s “Gambler.” What do the revelations of Phil’s reckless betting say about him? Has his legacy been altered?
In 1994, Alan wrote his first cover story for Sports Illustrated as a 21 year-old intern, and in the ensuing quarter-century he typed two dozen more. He is the author of eight books, including best-sellers Bud, Sweat & Tees; The Swinger (with Michael Bamberger); and Phil. Shipnuck has won 13 first-place awards in the annual Golf Writers Association of America writing contest, breaking the record of Dan Jenkins, a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame. Alan lives in Carmel, Cal.
More great reporting. Will be interesting to see how the LIV/PGA Tour merger plays out.
As a lifelong fan of the PGA Tour I am appalled at Phil’s partnership with a convicted felon. If Phil was willing to bet big on the Ryder Cup, how many times did he bet on weekly PGA events? We will probably never know. It would appear that Phil’s partnership with Walters was quite out in the open. Why didn’t Tour management intervene and tell Phil to cut his ties with Walters and stop the out of control gambling? Other sports leagues closely monitor the unseemly habits of their players. Why didn’t Phil’s family members, agents, or lawyers force an intervention with Phil. Yes, Phil’s conduct is appalling, but the real villain here is the people who run the PGA. Why did they cast a blind eye at Phil’s addiction? Alan, I would hope that you would do a full journalistic investigation into the negligence of the PGA Tour administration.