A collector struck at the perfect time to own a piece of Tiger Woods history on Saturday, winning an auction to take home Woods’ backup putter from 2000. The Scotty Cameron Newport II GSS sold a day before Woods won his 15th major at The Masters on GreenJacketAuctions.com for $88,809.60.
This is not the infamous putter Woods has used to win now 14 major championships, which is still used by Woods and used at this year’s Masters. While his current putter is valued as priceless to its user, it could fetch well into the millions if it ever hit the market.
The putter won in this auction is one of a few back-up putters given to Woods each year by Scotty Cameron to test, practice and experiment with, but it was never used in tournament play. It does come with a certificate of authenticity from Scotty Cameron, who, according to the auction site, describes the putter as “made for Tiger Woods.”
The putter bears the familiar markings on a Tiger Woods signature putter with his name engraved on the backside of the putter, Scotty Cameron’s name on the front heel and the initials, T.W. on the front toe.
This isn’t the first time one of Woods’ back-ups was sold, but it is believed to be the most money garnered for a putter from Woods’ collection. A similar model sold in 2015 for $23,000, and was eventually resold for $29,000 the same year. A collector in Japan purchased one in 2015 for $60,000, and a back-up at the same auction site, GreenJacketAuctions.com, sold for $44,401 in April, 2018 and previously sold another model for $53,146.
The site has also sold a back-up Scotty Cameron Newport Teryllium Tel3, which was the same model Woods used in his first win at The Masters in 1997, earlier this year for $22,784.04. It has also sold the winning Nike golf ball Woods used in the 2005 Masters that so infamously hung on the edge of the cup on the par-3 16th hole before falling in for a birdie for $30,326.04 in 2018.
This 2000 putter sold for over double what it did only a year ago and it sold a day before Woods raised his arms in victory at Augusta National.