NEW YORK (AP) — The Securities And Exchange Commission is filing a complaint against professional golfer Phil Mickelson related to insider trading. 
 
 The SEC says a gambler named William Walters received tips and business information about Dean Foods Co. from former Dean Foods director Thomas Davis between 2008 and 2012. 
 
 In 2012, the SEC says Walters called Mickelson, who owed him money, and urged him to trade Dean Foods stock. The SEC says Mickelson did so the next day and made a profit of $931,000. 
 
 Mickelson was not in the field of the Byron Nelson Classic in Irving, Texas, where play began Thursday morning. Calls to his representatives were not immediately returned. ||||| Darren Rovell reacts to the news that golfer Phil Mickelson was not criminally charged after it surfaced that he allegedly profited off an insider stock tip to repay a debt owed to sports gambler Billy Walters. (2:27) 
 
 The Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday alleged that golfer Phil Mickelson made $931,000 after purchasing stock on an insider trading tip from sports gambler Billy Walters and then used some of the money to pay back Walters, to whom he allegedly owed money. 
 
 The SEC on Thursday said Mickelson, who was not criminally charged, has agreed to pay back "all ill-gotten gains," which, including interest, totals $1.03 million. 
 
 Mickelson instead was charged as a relief defendant, which is reserved for a person who profited without evidence of knowledge concerning the origin of the illegal tip. 
 
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 "Simply put, the money Mr. Mickelson made was not his to make," said Andrew Ceresney, director of the SEC's enforcement division. 
 
 A spokesman for Mickelson issued a statement Thursday, saying the golfer has "no desire to benefit from any transaction that the SEC sees as questionable." 
 
 "Phil understands and deeply respects the high professional and ethical standards that the companies he represents expect of their employees, associates and of Phil himself," the statement said. "He subscribes to the same values and regrets any appearance that, on this occasion, he fell short. He takes full responsibility for the decisions and associations that led him to becoming part of this investigation. 
 
 "... He is pleased that this matter is over, and he will have no further comment." 
 
 Phil Mickelson was not criminally charged for allegedly profiting off an insider stock tip to repay a debt owed to noted sports gambler Billy Walters. Harry How/Getty Images 
 
 PGA Tour spokesman Ty Votaw, when asked if any disciplinary action was being considered against Mickelson, declined comment, citing tour policy. 
 
 A spokesman for Barclays, the bank that sponsors Mickelson, declined to comment on how Thursday's actions will affect his relationship with the company. 
 
 Officials with financial services company KPMG, which also sponsors Mickelson, said in a statement: "KPMG has had a long and meaningful relationship with Phil Mickelson. While we are disappointed by what the SEC announced today, we appreciate that Phil's statement makes clear he respects and shares the values of KPMG. We accept his statement of personal responsibility and commitment and have nothing further to add." 
 
 In its case, the SEC said Mickelson spoke with Walters, with whom he had placed bets, in 2012 about an upcoming spin-off of dairy company Dean Foods. Based on a tip Walters had received, the SEC alleged, Walters told Mickelson to buy the stock. Months after buying 240,000 shares, according to a companion criminal case, Mickelson then repaid Walters using the Dean Foods money, the SEC alleged. 
 
 Walters was charged with insider trading and was arrested by the FBI late Wednesday in Las Vegas. He was released from custody Thursday afternoon in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas on $1 million bond and $100,000 cash security. Walters is scheduled to make an appearance before the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on June 1. 
 
 In a separate indictment Thursday, the U.S. Attorney's office in Manhattan, in conjunction with the SEC and the FBI, alleged that Walters' interaction with former chairman of Dean Foods Thomas Davis allowed him to make a profit of $32 million in stock trading while avoiding losses of $11 million. 
 
 Davis, who had business relationships with Walters, allegedly received $1.1 million in loans from Walters that went unpaid. Davis is cooperating with the investigation, and he has already pleaded guilty to charges that, in addition to those handed down to Walters, include perjury and obstruction of justice, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said Thursday at a news conference in New York. 
 
 Authorities were tipped off when, they say, Walters made $17.1 million in 2012 by trading on information that Dean Foods would spin off a company called WhiteWave-Alpro. Through their investigation, the authorities revealed that Davis would frequently call Walters after he allegedly received inside information about the company and Walters would then execute trades. 
 
 The SEC also is looking to recoup gains from Davis and Walters. 
 
 Walters, 69, is widely considered the most successful sports bettor ever in the U.S. He grew up poor in Kentucky and moved to Las Vegas in 1980. He's parlayed his success betting on sports into the business world. He owns The Walters Group and Nature Development B.V., which counts numerous car dealerships and high-end golf courses as assets. 
 
 "Bill Walters is a true American success story, whose extraordinary accomplishments as a lawful sports gambler have been widely recognized and lauded," Walters attorney Barry Berke said in a statement provided to ESPN. "Mr. Walters' renowned work ethic and many other talents also have helped him achieve great success in business, investing and philanthropy. Mr. Walters and his counsel look forward to his day in court where it will be shown that the prosecutors' accusations are based on erroneous assumptions, speculative theories and false finger-pointing." 
 
 A spokesman for Dean Foods, based in Dallas, said Thursday that Davis resigned from the company's board of directors last year and is no longer affiliated with the company. Dean Foods said it is cooperating with the government investigation. 
 
 According to indictments, when the Walters and Davis would discuss Dean Foods, they would refer to the company as the "Dallas Cowboys." 
 
 Mickelson is also tied to a federal money laundering case, sources told ESPN last year, in which a California man is accused of transferring almost $3 million as part of an illegal gambling operation. The nearly $3 million is alleged to be Mickelson's money. 
 
 Gregory Silveira of La Quinta pleaded guilty in June to three counts of laundering funds. He had filed a motion in March to withdraw his plea, which was considered and ultimately denied by the court. He awaits sentencing. 
 
 Mickelson has not been charged with a crime and is not under federal investigation in the laundering case. 
 
 The 45-year-old Mickelson was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2011. He has won 42 tour events, including five majors -- three Masters, one PGA Championship and one British Open. 
 
 He has long had a reputation for being a gambler, though he has said he scaled back his habit after his son, Evan, was born in 2003. The most publicized payoff was when Mickelson and friends won $560,000 on a preseason bet (28-1 odds) that the Baltimore Ravens would win the 2001 Super Bowl. 
 
 He has a history of playing money games during the practice rounds. He occasionally gets a group of players and caddies together for dinner and small wagering during the NBA and NHL playoffs, and prominent fights. 
 
 The Associated Press contributed to this report. ||||| Photo 
 
 The divergent lives of a championship golfer, a high-rolling gambler and a billionaire investor have collided in a federal insider trading investigation. 
 
 Federal authorities are examining a series of well-timed trades made by the golfer Phil Mickelson and the gambler William T. Walters, people briefed on the investigation said, focusing on trading in two different stocks. The authorities are also questioning what role, if any, the investor Carl C. Icahn may have had in sharing information about one of the stocks: the consumer products company Clorox. 
 
 Mr. Walters, an owner of golf courses who is often considered the most successful sports bettor in the country, placed his Clorox trade in 2011, the people briefed on the investigation said. Mr. Icahn, a 78-year-old billionaire and one of the best-known investors in the world, was mounting a takeover bid for Clorox around the time of that trade. 
 
 The F.B.I. and Securities and Exchange Commission, which are leading the inquiry along with federal prosecutors in Manhattan, are examining whether Mr. Icahn leaked details of his Clorox bid to Mr. Walters, the people briefed on the investigation said. One initial theory, the people said, is that Mr. Walters might have passed that information to Mr. Mickelson. But Mr. Mickelson, a three-time winner of the Masters golf tournament and one of the country’s highest-earning athletes, did not bet on Clorox, though he did trade in the stock of another company tied to Mr. Walters, the people added. 
 
 Aound the time of the Clorox trading, the S.E.C. sent Mr. Icahn a routine request for information about his dealings in the company, the people briefed on the matter said. Federal authorities, whose investigation has dragged on for more than two years without yielding definitive evidence of insider trading, are also examining phone records to see whether Mr. Walters spoke to Mr. Icahn shortly before the trades. 
 
 Mr. Icahn’s bid for Clorox ultimately failed. Mr. Mickelson, Mr. Walters and Mr. Icahn have not been accused of any wrongdoing. Mr. Icahn, even if he did leak secret information about his firm’s intentions with Clorox, may have done so legally. It would be illegal if he breached a duty of confidentiality to his own investors. 
 
 In a separate strand of the investigation, federal authorities are looking into trading in Dean Foods that has no apparent connection to Mr. Icahn, the people briefed on the matter said. Mr. Walters and Mr. Mickelson placed the trades around August 2012, according to the people, just before the food and beverage company announced its quarterly earnings and a public offering of stock for one of its subsidiaries. The authorities are investigating whether Mr. Walters had a source inside the company itself — and whether others who know Mr. Walters may have traded on the information as well. 
 
 Mr. Walters, reached on Friday evening, said, “While I don’t have any comment, pal, I’ll talk to you later.” 
 
 In an interview, Mr. Icahn said “I don’t give out inside information,” adding that “for 50 years I have had an unblemished record.” Mr. Icahn, who acknowledged knowing Mr. Walters but said he never met or spoke to Mr. Mickelson, argued that any suggestion he did anything wrong is “irresponsible.” 
 
 Representatives for Mr. Mickelson did not respond to a request for comment. Federal authorities declined to comment. 
 
 For two years, authorities had little to go on besides trading records and a hunch. Then last year, F.B.I. agents approached Mr. Mickelson at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey, one of the people briefed on the matter said, asking the celebrity golfer to discuss his trading. 
 
 It is unclear whether Mr. Mickelson knows Mr. Icahn or provided any evidence implicating him or Mr. Walters in the trading. It is possible that the investigations will not produce any charges. 
 
 But if the investigation proceeds, it could undermine the reputation of one of America’s most popular athletes in Mr. Mickelson, who has won five major championships over a two-decade career. And for Mr. Icahn, the investigation might complicate one of the longest running and most successful careers on Wall Street. 
 
 Mr. Icahn made his foray into finance as a stockbroker in the 1960s. He later became a professional agitator, haranguing the country’s biggest companies to give him a board seat. 
 
 Long before activist investing was in vogue, Mr. Icahn was waging war with executives at companies like Motorola, RJR Nabisco and United States Steel, pushing for corporate changes to increase shareholder value. In the 1980s, Mr. Icahn became synonymous with an era of corporate raiding, leading a hostile takeover of Trans World Airlines. 
 
 In recent years, his strategy has mellowed some. Mr. Icahn has become something of an elder statesman on Wall Street, often appearing on the CNBC business channel, at investing conferences and even on Twitter, though he continues to pursue headline-grabbing takeover bids for companies like Clorox. 
 
 Mr. Icahn laid the groundwork for a Clorox takeover in early 2011, when he disclosed in a regulatory filing that his various investment firms began amassing shares in the consumer goods manufacturer, thinking the stock was undervalued. Shares of Clorox rose about 6 percent in February 2011, after Mr. Icahn disclosed his stake. 
 
 The shares jumped again a few months later after he announced an unsolicited takeover bid for the company. In a letter to Clorox, Mr. Icahn proposed buying the company for $76.50 a share and noted that his firms were Clorox’s largest investor. 
 
 In the days leading up to Mr. Icahn’s bid, there was unusual trading activity in shares of Clorox and options to buy the stock, according to published reports at the time. Successful options trading that comes ahead of corporate deals can be a red flag for regulators. 
 
 The investigation into the Clorox trading began at the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, or Finra, Wall Street’s self-regulatory group that monitors suspicious trades. In 2011, the people briefed on the matter said, Finra traced a series of well-timed Clorox trades to Mr. Walters and other investors, just as Mr. Icahn was aiming to gain a foothold on the company’s board. 
 
 Ultimately, Clorox rebuffed Mr. Icahn’s overture. By September 2011, Mr. Icahn withdrew the bid. 
 
 Because the bid failed, it is unclear what inside information, if any, Mr. Icahn may have been privy to other than the trading strategy of his own firm, Icahn Enterprises. If Mr. Icahn provided Mr. Walters a heads-up about his activities in connection with the takeover bid, it is not necessarily a violation. Under the laws that govern insider trading, it is not illegal to leak secret information about a future trade. 
 
 For such a leak to be illegal, Mr. Icahn most likely would have had to breach a duty to keep the information confidential. Since Mr. Icahn never joined the Clorox board, he probably owed no duty to the company or its shareholders. 
 
 Yet if any potential bidder for Clorox breached a duty of confidentiality to his or her own investors, then that could present a legal problem. And in certain cases, even if there is no duty of confidentiality, a little-known securities rule might prevent someone who is mounting a takeover bid to leak “material, nonpublic information” about the offer. 
 
 It is unclear how well acquainted Mr. Icahn and Mr. Walters are, but they have crossed paths in Las Vegas. Mr. Icahn is no stranger to the city. Over the years, Mr. Icahn has invested in Las Vegas real estate and is chairman of Tropicana Entertainment, a casino company based in the city. Regulatory filings also show that a small Nevada company controlled by Mr. Walters and his business partner was an early investor in the mobile data provider Voltari, whose largest shareholders include Mr. Icahn’s investment firms. 
 
 Mr. Mickelson and Mr. Walters have participated in the Pebble Beach Pro Am golf tournament during which professional golfers partner with amateurs and celebrities. Mr. Walters won the tournament in 2008. 
 
 Mr. Walters, better known as Billy, has drawn federal scrutiny off and on for years. In 1992, he was acquitted of illegal gambling charges. Years later, the Nevada attorney general charged Mr. Walters with money laundering stemming from his gambling operation. The case resulted in three indictments; courts dismissed each one. 
 
 Despite the scrutiny, Mr. Walters firmly belongs to the Las Vegas elite, a generous philanthropist who epitomizes the city’s unconventional brand of capitalism. He bought up golf courses — his Bali Hai Golf Club has hosted what it calls the “sexiest golf tournament” in the world, featuring female caddies — and auto dealerships. He also helped finance political campaigns. 
 
 In 2011, “60 Minutes” captured Mr. Walters’s high-roller status. The anchor, Lara Logan, remarked that “It’s hard to find anyone better at winning than Billy Walters.” 
 
 But during the segment, Mr. Walters complained that his stock picks had not fared as well as his sports bets. He discussed how the worst “crooks” he met were on Wall Street, not in the casinos or betting parlors, mentioning that the most money he lost was on stocks like Enron. 
 
 Alexandra Stevenson, Azam Ahmed and Peter J. Henning contributed reporting.
– The Securities and Exchange Commission is filing a complaint against professional golfer Phil Mickelson related to insider trading, the AP reports. The SEC says gambler William Walters received tips and business information about Dean Foods Co. from Thomas Davis, former head of Dean Foods, between 2008 and 2012. The SEC says Walters called Mickelson, who owed him money, in 2012 and urged him to trade Dean Foods stock. The SEC says Mickelson did so the next day, buying 240,000 shares and making a profit of $931,000, per ESPN. He then used that money to pay Walters back his IOU a few months later, the SEC says. Mickelson's attorney told ESPN on Thursday that the golfer, who wasn't charged criminally, has made a deal with the SEC that involves him returning all money made from that trade—what the SEC refers to as "all ill-gotten gains in the form of illicit trading profits," per USA Today. Mickelson was not in the field at the AT&T Byron Nelson tournament in Irving, Texas, where play began Thursday morning. Walters, meanwhile, was arrested in Las Vegas Wednesday and charged with insider trading; he's set to appear in court Thursday. (The New York Times offers a more in-depth look, including more on Walters, often said to be the best sports bettor in the US.)