Woods’ ‘Tiger Slam’ Irons Sell For More Than $5M at Golden Age Golf Auctions

If Tiger Woods wasn’t already the king of golf collectibles, he certainly is now.

The irons Woods used to win the “Tiger Slam” in 2000-01 sold for an incredible $5,156,162 at Golden Age Golf Auctions Saturday, April 9, shattering the record for all golf memorabilia.

The set of irons Tiger Woods used to win the 'Tiger Slam' in 2000-01 sold for $5.15 million. Courtesy Golden Age Auctions

The winning bid was almost five times higher than expected for one of the most valuable pieces of golf memorabilia ever auctioned. The Titleist irons Woods used for much of his career was expected to top $1 million.

"Golf collecting has often lagged behind other sports. Not anymore," said Ryan Carey, owner of Golden Age.

"Tiger Woods is becoming his own collecting category, alongside other GOATs like Michael Jordan and Tom Brady," Carey said. "$5.15 million shatters the prior golf collecting record, and puts the Tiger Slam irons among the most valuable pieces of sports memorabilia in existence."

The term Tiger Slam was coined after Woods held all four Major Championships at one time, but instead of being in the same calendar year, it filtered into another year. In 2000, Woods won the US Open, the Open Championship, and the PGA Championship. He then won the 2001 Masters, becoming the first player in the modern era to hold all four Major titles at the same time. Courtesy Dave Cannon /Allsport

For the past 12 years, the set of irons had been owned by Houston businessman Todd Brock, who had bought the irons at auction in 2010. Brock purchased the irons from Golden Age, which persuaded him to put them back on the auction block.

In 2000, Woods won the last three major championships of the year, followed by The Masters in 2001, giving him four straight major victories and creating the Tiger Slam.

A Titleist Forged 8 iron used by Tiger Woods. Courtesy Golden Age Auctions

Seven weeks later, Titleist officials gave Woods a new set of irons at the Buick Classic at Westchester Country Club in New York. Woods decided to play with the new irons that weekend, while Titleist officials took the old set to the Titleist Tour Van to verify the specs of the new ones.

Tiger gave the old irons to Titleist VP of Player Promotions Steve Mata, who owned them before putting them up for auction in 2010.

Tiger Woods' iron used to win the Tiger Slam is part of a set that sold for $5.15 million. Courtesy of Golden Age Auctions

“These irons have been in my office for 12 years, no one even knew I had them,” Brock said. “I am such a fan of Tiger Woods and I thought it was time for this collection to have wider exposure.”

The set includes 2-PW Titleist Forged irons and two custom Vokey wedges. The wedges are both stamped "TIGER." The 58-degree wedge is bent to 56 degrees and hand stamped "56*". The wear mark on the face of the 8 iron is otherworldly, showing where Tiger had struck the sweet spot thousands of times.