The ball with which Tiger Woods made his first “hole in one” on hole 14 (par 3) of the Greater Milwaukee Open was sold at auction for $ 186,000 in September 1996 and on his professional debut in the USA. This is the sum collected by Bob Gustin who 26 years ago not only managed to make it of him (after a throw of Tiger in the crowd) but, thanks to the help of the then director of the tournament, Tom Strong, he had also managed to do it.
autographed by the Californian champion.
Tiger Woods, statements
The ball was sold during the fall event of Heritage Auctions, a multinational auction house based in Dallas, Texas. “We all knew it was a special, unique piece.
On the other hand, during his professional career Woods only made three holes in one and the first one reached his professional debut. It is a museum piece and that is why which was sold at that price, “commented Chris Nerat, sports consignment director of Heritage Auction.
Eldrick “Tiger” Woods (Cypress (California), December 30, 1975), is an American golfer. He is considered one of the greatest golfers of all time, along with Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer. He currently has 15 majors, the second player with more majors won in the history of this sport, three behind Jack Nicklaus.
Following an exceptional golf career as an amateur and two years in college, Woods made his professional debut at the age of 20 in the late summer of 1996. By April 1997 he had already won his first major, the 1997 Masters with a record performance, winning the tournament by 12 strokes and pocketing $486,000.
He was first declared world number one in June 1997. By the 2000s, Woods became the dominant force in golf, ranking for 264 weeks from August 1999 to September 2004 and 281 weeks from June 2005 to October 2010 as world number one.
From December 2009 to early April 2010, Woods took a break from professional golf to focus on his marriage after admitting infidelity, in 2010 he and his wife Elin Nordegren finally divorced. His many indiscretions were revealed by various women, through various media around the world.
This continued with a loss of form in golf, and he gradually slipped down the rankings to 58th in November 2011. He ended his worst 107-week unbeaten streak when he reached the Chevron World Challenge in December 2011. After winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational on March 25, 2013, he returned to the number one ranking, remaining there until May 2014.
Woods underwent back surgery in April 2014, and has struggled ever since to get back to his best. On March 29, 2015, Woods dropped back to 104th, outside the top 100 for the first time since the week before winning his first professional tour title in 1996. In 2019 after multiple physical and personal problems finally wins a major again.
