An avid collector of golf memorabilia recently bought Tiger Woods’ backup putter for over $44,000 at a Green Jacket Auctions event.
The Scotty Cameron putter, which Woods reportedly used in 2001, was produced for the professional golfer to practice and experiment with. It was also created in the event something happened to his main one.
Tiger Woods’ backup putter: a rare collectable
Although this is not the putter Tiger used to win 13 of his 14 majors with—he still owns that one, and it is estimated to be worth in excess of $1 million—it is still one of a limited number of putters created by Scotty Cameron.
An even smaller number have reached the auction market to this day.
The putter comes with a certificate of authenticity from Scotty Cameron, who describes it as follows: “Made for Tiger Woods, GSS Newport II with rare vertical stamping & sight dot.”
Another Tiger Woods backup putter sold for over $60,000 to a collector in Japan in 2015.
It is estimated that Scotty Cameron “only produced one or two backup putters for Tiger each year they worked together.”
It isn’t uncommon for pieces of kit or equipment belonging to popular professional sports figure to do well at auction. Items such as Babe Ruth’s baseball bat, Muhammad Ali’s boxing gloves and Michael Jordan’s basketball jerseys have all attracted the attention of connoisseurs of sport memorabilia.
See also: Patrick Reed’s Masters Win ‘Overshadowed’ by Family History
