Tiger Woods' purported Tiger Slam irons up for auction

Virtual collectibles may be growing in popularity, but there’s still something about the real thing. That’s why the record for the priciest piece of golf memorabilia ever sold is expected to fall in the coming weeks.

What is the potentially record-breaking item? It’s the set of irons and wedges purportedly used by Tiger Woods during the Tiger Slam. The clubs went up for auction Wednesday. Bidding will close April 9, coinciding with the final round of the Masters.

The auction is available here.

The clubs were first bought in 2010 by Houston businessman Todd Brock, who’s publicly acknowledging for the first time that he is the owner of the clubs. He has kept them in a frame in his office since purchasing them.

So, why is he selling them now? He wants someone else to enjoy them.

“I got to enjoy them for 11-12 years,” Brock told PGATOUR.COM. “I live a boring life. I don’t entertain a whole lot, so they weren’t getting the eyes on them that they deserve.”

After telling very few people that he owned the irons, Brock said he hopes the clubs end up in a location where the public can view them. The auction is being conducted by Golden Age Auctions, which also handled the 2010 sale of the clubs.

Brock’s return on investment promises to be pretty strong, as well.

He remembers bidding on the clubs while in the front row of a Garth Brooks concert, winning the irons with a bid of $57,242 back in 2010. This time – a few years removed from Woods’ sentimental 2019 Masters win and just weeks after he was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame -- the clubs are expected to fetch a record-setting price. A Green Jacket owned by Horton Smith, who won the inaugural Masters and again two years later, set that record in 2013 when it was sold by Golden Age Auctions for $682,000.

Golden Age Auctions also sold one of Woods’ backup Scotty Camerons last year for $393,000. The collectibles industry is currently experiencing a boom, and that includes golf collectibles. A ticket to the inaugural Masters signed by 17 participants, including Smith, Bobby Jones and sportswriter Grantland Rice, sold recently for $600,000, breaking the record for highest priced sports collectible ticket.

The set of Tiger Slam clubs features nine Titleist 681-T irons (2-pitching wedge) and two Vokey wedges, a 58-degree wedge bent to 56 degrees and a 60-degree wedge. Both wedges are stamped “TIGER.” The club that gets the most attention is the 8-iron, because of its small wear pattern in the middle of the face.

Why is the 8-iron so worn? Brock believes it’s because Woods used it so much while warming up.

“I remember Freddie Couples said at some point … that he always starts with his 8-iron and that’s what he uses most on the range because if you immediately go to a wedge, you’re bending over before you warm up,” Brock said. In other words, the 8-iron is the perfect combination of length and loft to allow someone to ease into their warm-up.

The Tiger Slam is arguably the greatest stretch in golf’s history, when Woods won all four of golf’s majors and THE PLAYERS consecutively. He won the final three majors of 2000, including a 15-shot win at the U.S. Open and eight-shot victory at The Open, to join Ben Hogan as the only men to win three majors in one year. Woods won the 2001 PLAYERS, thanks in part to his “Better Than Most” putt in the third round, two weeks before finishing off the Slam at the Masters.

The irons come with an affidavit and polygraph results from former Titleist vice president Steve Mata, who put the irons up for auction in 2010, and a 2020 affidavit from another former Titleist vice president, Rick Nelson. The set also includes a 2000 Golfweek article by Jim Achenbach detailing the specs of the irons Woods used to win the 2000 PGA, which match the specs of the irons being sold.

Mata said he acquired the irons at the Buick Classic in June 2001, a week after Woods’ major winning streak ended with a T12 finish in the U.S. Open at Southern Hills. According to Mata, who worked closely with Woods on his Titleist clubs, he and Nelson gave Woods a new set of irons and wedges before play began at Westchester Country Club. Woods put the new clubs in his bag and gave his previous set to Mata.

Woods denied in 2010 that Mata possessed the irons Woods used to win the Tiger Slam.

Ryan Carey, the owner of Golden Age auctions, said he has spoken with “dozens of people intimately familiar with these clubs” about their authenticity, however.

“We can say with 100% confidence that these clubs were used by Tiger Woods during his legendary 2000-01 seasons,” he said. The auction comes after Carey’s persistent pleading with Brock to put the clubs back on the market.

“I left my big law firm job when I first sold these irons 12 years ago, realizing that this is what I wanted to do,” Carey said. “I spent much of those 12 years trying to get them back. I can’t wait for everyone to see them.”