A set of irons used by Tiger Woods became one of the most valuable pieces of sports memorabilia Saturday night, selling for over $5.1 million at auction.
Used by Woods during a stretch of play in 2000 and 2001 when he won four consecutive major championships, the Titleist irons and two wedges also set a record for the most expensive golf memorabilia lot ever sold.
Golden Age Golf Auctions opened bidding March 23 at $25,000 and bidding quickly reached nearly $1 million before a flurry of late activity pushed the total to nearly $4.3 million. With the buyer’s premium added, the clubs sold for $5,156,162.
That price pushed golf memorabilia into the forefront of a baseball dominated list of the most valuable sports memorabilia ever sold. In December 2019, a document that helped launch the modern Olympic Games sold for $8.8 million. Last year, a T206 Honus Wagner card netted $6.6 million. A Babe Ruth jersey from the middle of his career, a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle and the original rules of basketball are also on the list o f the highest selling sports items.
The name of the winning bidder wasn’t immediately revealed.
Golden Age says Titleist VP of Player Promotions Steve Mata had originally taken possession of the clubs after Woods switched to a new set seven weeks after winning the 2001 Masters and completing what became known as the “Tiger Slam.” While he didn’t win all four tournaments in the same year for a traditional grand slam, the run of victories was testimony to Woods’ greatness.
The clubs were recently photomatched to images of Woods using them.
Mata originally consigned the clubs to a 2010 Golden Age auction where they sold for $57,242 to Texas private equity investor Todd Brock, who had them on display in his office.
Brock picked a good time to sell them with Woods’ return to competition generating headlines late last week. The 46-year-old Woods made the cut at the Masters Friday in his first tournament following last year’s serious car accident.
“I’ve had the opportunity to see these for 12 years, and it’s like a Rembrandt, where somebody takes it to their castle and it’s never seen again,” Brock told ESPN. “I felt blessed that I got to hang out with them and look at them, but it’s time for somebody else to do something bigger and better with them.”
A few other items in the auction sold for six-figure prices including a 1992 PGA tournament debut ticket signed by Woods at age 16 that netted $104,694, Ben Hogan’s irons used in 1953 ($246,865), Sam Snead’s 1952 Masters gold medal ($190,373) and a signed Bobby Jones golf ball ($104,694).
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