A new unauthorized biography of pro golfer Phil Mickelson – apparently a “legend” with guys who watch Prudential Investments commercials for fashion tips – strongly hints that Mickelson’s gambling debts were the reason behind his openness to joining a new golf tour founded by the Saudi royal family and Prince Mohammed Bonesaw, the Washington Post reports.

“We know they killed [Washington Post journalist Jamal] Khashoggi and have a horrible record on human rights. They execute people over there for being gay. Knowing all of this, why would I even consider it? Because this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reshape how the PGA Tour operates,” said Mickelson to the book’s author Alan Shipnuck last fall – which Mickelson later tried to walk back when they surfaced in February of this year. From there PGA stars rushed to distance themselves from the toxic Saudi regime despite the massive payouts involved – payouts that Mickelson probably needs as Shipnuck alleges the golfer accumulated as much as $40 million in gambling debts early last decade. On Friday Mickelson withdrew from this week’s PGA Championship, which would’ve been his first officially sanctioned event since playing at a tournament in Saudi Arabia in February, just prior to when Shipnuck leaked the conversation.

Mickelson’s shadiness shows the corrupting allure of foreign blood money on those compromised by debts and/or greed is not just limited to assholes of the Trump-Kushner-Manafort type, but other public figures who live far outside the realm of politics. They must be held accountable.