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Tiger Woods' supposed 'Tiger Slam' irons sell for more than $5M, but are they real?

A set of Titleist irons said to have been used by Tiger Woods during his "Tiger Slam" from 2000-01 just sold for more than $5 million, smashing the previous record price for golf memorabilia.

Woods and his agent Mark Steinberg have said they're not authentic.

Golden Age Auctions announced that the set of Titleist 681-T irons and two Vokey wedges sold late Saturday for a price of $5,156,162.40. The previous high mark for golf memorabilia was $682,000 paid for the green jacket won by Horton Smith, the first winner of the Masters. That sale took place in 2013.

The winning bidder on Saturday was not identified. Todd Brock, a Houston-area businessman, was the previous owner and seller. He bought the clubs from ex-Titleist vice president of player promotions Steve Mata for for $57,242 in 2010, according to Golf Digest. Mata says that Woods gifted him the clubs at the Buick Classic at Westchester Country Club in 2001 when he delivered Woods a new set of irons. The grooves on the old irons were past their prime.

"He said, 'Keep them, they're yours,'" Mata said in 2010, per the Associated Press. "And I said, 'What? Are you kidding me? I turned to another Titleist employee and said, 'Does he know what they are?' And Tiger said he knew exactly what they are."

Woods has claimed he he still has clubs in his garage

Woods denied in 2010 at the Player's Championship that the clubs Mata had were the "Tiger Slam" irons after they initially went up for auction. He told reporters that he still had those irons at home.

"He may have my set of irons, but they're not from those tournaments," Woods said in 2010. "They're in my garage."

Tiger Woods of the US comes out of a sand trap on the 5th hole at the Augusta National Golf Club 08 April 2001 during the final round of the 2001 Masters golf tournament in Augusta, Georgia. Woods started the round in at 11 under-par for the tournament.   AFP PHOTO/Timothy A. CLARY (Photo by Timothy A. CLARY / AFP) (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images)
Tiger Woods seen here at the 2001 Masters swinging an extremely valuable golf club. (Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images)

eBay initially took down the 2010 auction after Woods' comments before Brock eventually bought them. Mata said in 2010 that he sold the irons to Brock because he was out of work and needed the money.

"I've got to take care of my family," Mata told AP.

He stood by his story after Woods claimed the he still owned the "Tiger Slam" irons.

Seller: Clubs 'like a Rembrandt'

After buying the irons in 2010, Brock says that he's displayed them in his office since, but decided to sell them so "something bigger and better" could be done with them.

"I've had them for 12 years now, and I haven't told anybody that I owned them," Brock said, per ESPN. "They were in a really nice frame in my office and I'm not an investor in memorabilia, so nobody was seeing the irons.

"I've had the opportunity to see these for 12 years, and it's like a Rembrandt, where somebody takes it to their castle and it's never seen again. I felt blessed that I got to hang out with them and look at them, but it's time for somebody else to do something bigger and better with them."

Per ESPN, Brock plans to use the proceeds from Saturday's auction for his foundation.

When the irons went up for auction in March, Golden Age founder Ryan Carey speculated if they would fetch $1 million. He told Golf Digest in March that he convinced Brock — whom he said "doesn't need the money" — to sell them for "history's sake."

"I finally convinced Todd to let me sell them just for history’s sake," Carey said. "He doesn’t need the money, and I told him this will break records.”

Saturday's sale price shattered expectations.

Woods' agent says Tiger still has the clubs

When news of the auction went public in March, Steinberg reiterated Woods' 2010 claim that he still owned the "Tiger Slam" irons.

"Tiger has the authentic set of the Slam irons in his house," Steinberg told Golf Digest. "Do you think Tiger would ever give away something that meaningful to his career?

"Could there be replicas out there that he was generous in giving away? Sure. But replicas versus authenticity — read into it as you will."

Carey stood by the clubs' authenticity when made aware of Steinberg's comments.

"The two Titleist executives who were in charge of Tiger’s clubs have signed sworn affidavits asserting their legitimacy," Carey told Golf Digest. "One took a polygraph and passed it, and the original buyer in 2010 did his due diligence as well. ...

"If Tiger believes he has these clubs at his house, we’d love to see them."

Golden Age took multiple verification steps

According to Golden Age, Mata was the executive who took and passed a polygraph test in 2010. Golden Age also claims to have conducted extensive photo matching to prove the clubs' authenticity and cited a 2000 Golfweek Magazine article by James Achenbach detailing the specs of the clubs. A copy of that article was included with the auction.

Titleist vice president Rick Nelson also signed an affidavit in 2020 vouching for the clubs' authenticity, according to PGATour.com.

Woods completed the "Tiger Slam" in 2001 when he won the Masters. He'd won the U.S. Open, British Open and PGA Championship in 2000 to become the first and only golfer to hold all four major championships at one time. Woods won $1,008,000 for that 2001 Masters victory that sealed the "Tiger Slam," roughly 20% of the 2022 selling price for the irons he purportedly used on the course that day.