Advertisement

A backup version of Tiger Woods’ iconic putter sold for nearly $155,000 at auction

Tiger Woods’ Scotty Cameron Newport II putter is iconic.

He’s won 14 of his 15 major championships with it, after all.

One golf fan really wanted Woods’ backup version of the putter, and went to great lengths to get their hands on it.

A backup of Woods’ famous putter dating back to 2001 sold at Golden Age Golf Auctions on Sunday morning for $154,928.

According to ESPN, that is believed to be the most a putter has ever been sold for.

Putter dates back to the ‘Tiger Slam’

While the putter never actually saw the course, it’s easy to see why golf fanatics would clamor over it.

Not only do a select few “backup” versions even exist — they were made personally for Woods in the event that his real putter broke, was unusable for some reason or he simply wanted to swap — but the putter that was sold dates back to 2001.

Woods won five times that season, including a three-tournament stretch where he won the Bay Hill Invitational, The Players Championship and then the Masters Tournament. The win at Augusta National capped the “Tiger Slam,” rounding out four straight consecutive major championship wins for Woods — who won the U.S. Open, British Open and PGA Championship the year before.

The only major Woods didn’t use the Scotty Cameron putter was his first at the 1997 Masters Tournament — where he used a Scotty Cameron Newport TeI3 instead.

A less specific backup version of Woods’ putter sold for more than $88,000 last year, according to Golf.com. The real putter is reportedly worth at least $3 million, and would likely sell for much more if it ever hit the auction block.

While that may seem like a lot to pay for a putter that never actually accomplished anything, the demand for Woods memorabilia has gone through the roof since he picked up his 15th major win in 2019 and his record-tying 82nd career PGA Tour win last season.

"We are currently seeing the largest ever demand for Tiger Woods memorabilia," Golden Age Golf Auctions co-founder Ryan Carey said, via ESPN. "We are seeing a dramatic increase in demand for Tiger Woods memorabilia both domestically and with our international clients, and this Tiger Woods putter is the most viewed auction lot in our 14 years of holding auctions."

Tiger Woods at the 2001 Masters Tournament
Despite it having never been used in competition, one golf fan broke a record to get their hands on Tiger Woods’ backup putter. (Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images)

More from Yahoo Sports: