Different Strokes: Going, going, gone for €333k – one Tiger Woods putter, never used

Imagine what price the real thing would get? A back-up putter which once belonged to Tiger Woods – which he practiced and experimented with during his standout 2002 season, when he won six tournaments among them the Masters, the US Open and the WGC-AmEx at Mount Juliet – has sold for $393,000 (€333,000) at an American auction house.

The putter, now given the status as the most expensive golf club ever sold, was personally made by famed club designer Scotty Cameron for Woods and was sold with a letter of authenticity.

“There are only a handful of pieces of sports memorabilia that we can be relatively certain will be collected for centuries – Babe Ruth’s bat, Muhammad Ali’s gloves, Michael Jordan’s shoes,” said Golden Age Golf Auctions in a statement following Sunday’s auction sale.

Woods never used the putter in winning any of the tournaments that year and the auction houses added, “when it comes to golf, there’s one such item that we would all add to the list above all others – Tiger Woods’s red dot Scotty Cameron putter.”

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That putter, which Woods used for the majority of his 15 career Major titles, is still in the golfer’s possession and would, according to the auctioneers, “fetch millions” if ever put up for sale.

Woods remains in recovery from the car accident which resulted in serious leg injuries earlier this year.

Burmester tested by European Tour slow play

Dean Burmester didn’t hold back in his appraisal of the slow play that again raised its ugly head in the Omega European Masters.

The Springbok – who’d been in contention heading into the weekend only to tumble down the leaderboard with rounds of 73 and 75 to ultimately finish in tied-40th – voiced his frustration on social media platforms with the question: “Is slow play cheating or just plain disrespectful to your fellow competitors?? I think it needs to stop here….#thingsneedtochange.”

The European Tour’s “new tougher regulations” to combat slow play came into effect at the Abu Dhabi Championship in 2020 but, it would seem, the greater power given to referees has had very little impact.

Word of Mouth

"They just sent me on a ton of putters, and I got the magic one now" – Patrick Cantlay after his record making display of putting through 72 holes to win the BMW Championship of his new Phantom X putter made by Scotty Cameron.

By the Numbers: 15,000,000

This week’s winner of the Tour Championship at East Lake Country Club in Atlanta will walk away with a payday of $15 million.

In total, there is a pot of $60 million on offer at the final event of the FedEx Cup playoffs, with the last placed finisher in the 30-man field receiving $395,000.

Twitter Twaddle

Massive thank you to the @RandA for an incredible week! It wasn't the result we wanted but the memories we made will last a lifetime and thanks to the best team of girls! Thank you to everyone who came over and supported and cheered us on! A week I'll never forget – Lauren Walsh, after the USA dominated the final day singles to overcome Britain and Ireland in the Curtis Cup on a 12½- 7½ scoreline.

Having a bad couple of putting months and watching Cantlay make everything is a really tough combo for the soul – Max Homa can only wish.

Atlanta in my sights . . . happy to get the birdie on 16 to seal the deal. Obviously a lot of hard work got us to the finale and we're thankful to our team for everything this season – Sergio Garcia on making it to the Tour Championship.

On this Day: August 31st, 1997

Sticks and stones and all that stuff. Scott Hoch acquired the cruel moniker "Hoch the Choke" after missing a two-footer that would have won him the 1989 Masters but he proved to be a durable customer and his win of the Greater Milwaukee Open some eight years later – his eighth career win on the PGA Tour – held firm to that attribute of resilience.

Heading into the back nine of the final round, David Sutherland held a three-stroke lead which he frittered away while Loren Roberts – the so-called "Boss of the Moss" – failed to birdie the 18th, which was playing one of the easiest on the course. Both finished on 15 under par, one stroke adrift of Hoch who chipped in from greenside rough on the closing hole for an eagle, his final-round 66 leaving him on 16-under 268.

“It was a shot in the dark,” remarked Hoch, who used an eight iron for the chip shot and had his arms in the air in anticipation as the ball made its journey along the putting surface.

In the Bag: Patrick Cantlay (BMW Championship)

Driver: Titleist TS3 (9.5 degrees)
3-wood: Titleist 915F (15 degrees)
Hybrid: Titleist TS2 (21 degrees)
Irons: Titleist 718 AP2 (4-9); Titleist Vokey SM7 (PW)
Lob Wedges: Titleist Vokey SM7 (52, 56 and 61 degrees)
Putter: Scotty Cameron Phantom X5
Ball: Titleist ProV1x

Know the Rules

Q
In match play, Player A tees up the ball outside the teeing area and proceeds to hit his drive out-of-bounds. His opponent had noted that the ball was played outside the required area but does not offer to cancel Player A's shot. What happens next?

A
Such a situation is covered by Rule 6.1b(1)/1 and, since the player's stroke is not cancelled, and the ball is out of bounds, Player A must take stroke and distance relief by playing a ball from where the previous stroke was made. However, as the stroke was not made from inside the teeing area, the ball must be dropped, not teed up.