Today is the first day of the US Open, therefore it was only appropriate that I post an update on Phil's insider trading scandal.
Mr. Mickelson, a three-time winner of the Masters golf tournament who is set to compete on Thursday at the United States Open, received some assurances from the government itself. An F.B.I. agent, two of the people briefed on the matter said, has informed Mr. Mickelson that the government is seeking information from him about Mr. Walters and has no plans to criminally charge him. That did not stop the government, which has not accused anyone of wrongdoing in the investigation and ultimately might not file either a criminal or a civil case, from making a pitch to secure Mr. Mickelson’s cooperation. F.B.I. agents have twice approached him out of the blue, the people said, once at an airport and once on a golf course at a tournament. The new details, provided in the interviews with the people briefed on the matter, indicate that Mr. Mickelson’s ties to the investigation are weaker than previously reported. The details may also raise questions about the government’s decision to deploy what appear to be unusually aggressive tactics in the investigation, particularly when the F.B.I. agents publicly approached Mr. Mickelson even though he is known to have a lawyer and a sports agent.