Pro golfer problems

ESPN's Outside the Lines named pro golfer Phil Mickelson as a bettor whose money led a handicapper to plead guilty to three federal counts of money laundering, according to national media.

Mickelson, a longtime San Diegan who put his Rancho Santa Fe estate for sale last November, had no comment.

Outside the Lines said it heard from two sources that Mickelson, a big-money winner on the pro tour, used Gregory Silveira of La Quinta as a go-between to place sports bets with an illegal offshore gambling syndicate. In 2010, Mickelson placed $2.75 million in bets with Silveira as the conduit, said Outside the Lines.

The ESPN program did not say that Mickelson is under investigation. He was not named in court documents.

Last year, Mickelson's name cropped up in a federal insider-trading investigation. Others involved were supposed to be billionaire corporate raider Carl Icahn and Las Vegas gambler Billy Walters. Mickelson has long had the reputation of being a gambler, although he has not been charged with illegal activity.