The sports memorabilia market has been red hot for the past few years and anything to do with Tiger Woods always catches sports fans’ eyes, so when Golden Age Golf Auctions announced that a Scotty Cameron putter made for Woods was going to be sold, we knew bidding would not be for the faint of heart.
The bidding opened on August 12 at 7 p.m. ET with a $25,000 minimum. That was quickly bid by a private bidder, but within an hour the price was up to $27,500. Fourteen bids later, on August 26, the price was up to $104,431. On Saturday, the final day of the auction, a flurry of private bids came in pushing the price to $223,858, then $297,955 and then $327,750. The final bid, which won the private bidder the club, was $393,300.
To be clear, this is not the putter that Woods has used to win 14 of his 15 majors. This one was made in 2002 by Scotty Cameron to be an exact replica of Tiger’s Newport 2, something Woods could keep as a backup in case there was ever an issue with his gamer. According to Golden Age, Cameron produced one or two backup putters each year for Woods, but there are fewer than 10 known to exist.
The backup of a Tiger Woods’ putter that sold at auction has a single alignment dot on the topline and weight reducing pockets drilled in the heel and the back. Photo by Golden Age Golf Auctions
The Scotty Cameron putter that Woods uses in competition is 34 inches long and made from German stainless steel (GSS), an ultra-soft material Cameron uses for some putters made for Tour players. While most Newport 2 putters have an alignment line, Woods’ putter has a single dot on the topline so he can put the ideal hitting area of the face directly behind the ball at address.
The putter sold at auction has the same setup, as well as the same large red dots on the front and back. Those dots were made because Woods loved the putter Cameron made for him, but asked if it could be made a few grams lighter. To decrease the weight without changing how the putter appeared when Tiger looked down at the ball, Cameron carefully drilled out tiny pockets in the face and back of the head, then filled them with red paint to make them more stylist.
Among the other items sold in the same auction were Gary Player’s 1974 Masters Tournament trophy ($523,483), a 1904 Olympic Games golf trophy ($493,777.20), Billy Casper’s 1966 U.S. Open trophy ($30,326) and a Tiger Woods autographed Nike golf ball ($9,532.80).