A set of Tiger Woods golf clubs, said to have been used during his ‘Tiger Slam’ string o
f major championships in 2000 and 2001, have sold at auction. The clubs had been the source of numerous stories in the sports media after Woods disputed the claim of former Titleist rep Steve Mata, who has been trying to sell them.
Needing money after losing his job with the golf manufacturer, Mata decided to sell the set of irons he says were given to him by Woods when he showed up to give a replacement set of clubs to Tiger in 2001. The clubs went on eBay, but at a press conference during the 2010 PLAYERS Championship, Woods said that while he didn’t dispute having used them at some point, the Slam cubs were ‘in my garage’.
The eBay auction was then cancelled by the company but Mata then went out and got a lie detector test and more documentation in coordination with Green Jacket Auctions.
Green Jacket then offered additional provenance when launching a new auction for the clubs among its golf memorabilia listings last month. Bidding closed Saturday night with a final price of $57,242, including the company’s buyer’s premium.
The set consists of every iron that was in Tiger’s bag at some point during 2000 to 2001, according to Mata and Green Jacket. There is a 2-Iron through Pitching Wedge, as well as two custom, hand-stamped Vokey Wedges – a total of eleven clubs in all.
Among the other golf memorabilia sold in Saturday night’s close was Doug Ford’s 1957 Masters jacket which sold for an eye-popping $62, 967. Green jackets have rarely been offered on the open market.
The Ryder Cup trophy presented to former PGA president Will Mann went for $13,702. A 2007 Tiger Woods signed tournament-used shirt from the 2007 PGA (when he won his 13th major) brought $12,457, while a 1997 Masters flag signed by Woods went for $4687 and an unsigned ’97 Masters flag brought $2410.
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