August 24 — If you missed bidding on the golf clubs Tiger Woods used during his 2000-2001 “Tiger Slam” run, you have another chance to take home a part of the once high-flying golf ace’s history.
The clubs, which owner Steve Mata says Woods used to win all four majors in a calendar year, are up for bid at the online auction site GreenJacketAuctions.com. As of Tuesday evening, the high bid was more than $1,600, which was a huge drop from the $250,000 that Mata sought when he originally listed them on eBay.
Lots of interest. Despite the starting sale price, Mata was optimistic that the clubs would generate lots of bids.
The items “are actually not being sold at a reduced rate,” Mata said in an e-mail to New England Golf Monthly. “We just decided to start the bidding at only $1,000 and let them go for what they’re worth when the auction ends on September 11….I fully expect the clubs to sell for $250,00.”
Back in May, when Mata listed the irons on eBay, he did so in the face of denials by Woods that the clubs were what the ex-Titleist executive purported them to be.
Maybe yes, maybe no. “He may have my set of irons, but they are not from those tournaments,” Woods told reporters at the time. “They are in my garage….The sets that I won all four major championships with are in my house.”
Mata claimed that Woods gave him one of two sets of irons that Mata made for the golfer when each worked for Titleist. Massachusetts-based Titleist sponsored Woods when he turned pro in 1996 and before he signed a huge deal with Nike Inc.
Polygraph — no kidding. The interesting tidbit in the current sale is the lie detector test Mata took and passed, and the affidavit he signed, under oath, pledging that the clubs are those Woods used during the Tiger Slam. The winning bid will receive the polygraphy results and the sworn statement along with the clubs.
“The first time I tried to sell them, I never-in-a-million-years thought that Tiger wouldn’t support me,” Mata said. “But after Tiger made his comments a few months ago, I knew I needed help from someone that knows about golf memorabilia.”
The folks at GreenJacketAuctions came up with the idea for the polygraph.
“It was the first time [the auction site] had ever used a polygraph to support a piece of memorabilia, and it was definitely the first time I have ever taken one,” noted Mata, who said he always intended to sell the clubs.
“This is really something that belongs with a collector or in a museum, not in my basement,” Mata said.
The clubs, which seller Mata claimed that Woods gave him “as a gift,” were supposedly the same set of Titleist 581 Forged “T” irons and Vokey wedges that Woods used to win the U.S. Open, British Open, and PGA Championship in 2000, and his fourth straight major at the 2001 Masters.
Specs. As a service to would-be buyers, here are the specs for the purported “Tiger Slam” clubs:
Irons (each stamped with a “T”)
- Lofts: 2 degrees weak (2 iron is 21 degrees)
- Shaft: Dynamic Golf X 100
- Lie: 1 degree upright
- Swingweight: D4
Wedges (each hand-stamped “Tiger”)
- Vokey 258-08 (58 degrees with 8 degrees of bounce on the sole, bent to 56 degrees)
- Vokey 260-06 (60 degrees loft with 6 degrees of bounce)
- Shaft: Dynamic Golf S 400
Grips
- Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord
(Emily Kay is a regular contributor to New England Golf Monthly. Check her out at the Boston Golf Examiner and National Golf Examiner websites.)
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