Apart from the 2022 PGA Championship and other golf matches, another topic that has been the talk of the town this year is “Tiger Woods signed golf ball.”
The reason “Tiger Woods signed golf ball” is a hot topic of discussion is because it has recently been put up for auction by the fan who has cherished it till now. Tiger Woods has built an unprecedented career in golf.
Before getting to know all we need to know about the Tiger Woods signed ball, let us look at who Tiger Woods is, his career, and his achievements.
Eldrick Tont “Tiger” Woods was born in Cypress, California, on December 30, 1975. He is the highest-profile golfer ever. He is the most-known face in golf and has had the greatest career in the game’s history.
He had a keen interest in golf from the very start and started playing golf at a very young age. At the age of 15, in 1991, he became the youngest U.S. Junior Amateur champion.
He turned professional on August 29, 1996, at the young age of 20. By the end of April 1996, he had won 2 titles. In 1997, he won his first major by finishing 12 strokes ahead and creating a record-breaking history. In June 1997, he became number 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking within a year of becoming a professional.
He is the first player to win 4 major golf tournaments consecutively– the Masters, the U.S. Open, the British Open, and the PGA Championship. He has achieved an endless number of awards and titles. Some of the most famous and the most talked about are listed below:
Won 15 professional major golf championships
Won the title of PGA Player of the Year 11 times
Won 82 PGA Tour events
2nd golfer to win a career Grand Slam thrice.
Won 18 World Golf Championships
Received the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Donald Trump in May 2019
Getting your hands on a Tiger Woods-signed golf ball is a huge deal and is worth loads of money. It is an even bigger deal if you have the ball with which he shot a hole-in-one because he hasn’t hit a hole-in-one since 1998.
Tiger’s signed golf ball had been up in the news recently because the fan who has cherished it for the past 26 years has put it up for auction. Let us revisit the 1996 incident and see how he managed to get Tiger Woods signed ball.
Woods hit an ace during the final round of the 1996 Greater Milwaukee Open. When Woods went to get his ball from the hole, 2 audience members, David and Gustin, begged him to toss the ball their way. After retrieving the ball, Woods obliged their request and threw it toward them.
The ball initially landed in David’s hand, but it bounced and ended up in Gustin’s lap. That’s not it; the incident took an even more exciting turn when Gustin, with the help of tournament director Tom Strong, managed to get Tiger Woods to sign on the ball.
Since then, the ball has been one of the most-priced possessions owned by Gustin. The ball is now up for auction and expected to be worth more than $50,000. Gustin plans to split the amount with David because they both had a part in Gustin getting the ball.
The golf ball is expected to be sold at a high value, as cardboard with Woods’ name on it was sold for $69,000, and a ticket for the game was sold at $99,000 this year. So the ball with which he hit a hole-in-one, along with his signature, is quite valuable.
Tiger Woods And Bridgestone
In 2016, when Nike announced that they would be discontinuing the production of golf equipment to focus on footwear and clothing, Tiger began looking for a new equipment maker company. Tiger then signed a multiyear contract with Bridgestone golf, where he will exclusively play and promote its golf line.
Tiger did a lot of testing and research with the golf balls available in the market and then decided the Bridgestone 330s fit his game.
The Bridgestone Tour B XS Tiger Woods Edition golf ball is a collaboration between Tiger Woods and Bridgestone. Woods worked with the R&D team of Bridgestone after the 2019 Zozo Championship to come up with this updated version of his ball.
After thorough research and testing done by Woods, Bridgestone has launched a Tiger Woods edition of the Tour B XS. It allows the golfers to play with the exact ball Tiger uses. The golf ball has the following design and features:
‘TIGER’ side stamp and number 1 on each ball
Ideal for golfers with fast swing speeds of over 105 mph
Softer feel and more spin for better control
Higher speed for maximum distance
Dual dimple technology for improved trajectory
Gradational compression core
A box of 12 Tour B XS – TW Edition golf balls costs around $49.99.
Nowadays, if you ask Tiger to sign a ball, he will most likely refuse to do so, but it was a bit more common back in the earlier days. So apart from the Titleist 1 golf ball, Tiger has signed quite a few golf balls.
Another famous golf ball he has signed is the Nike 1 golf ball. It is different from the Titleist one as, over the years, Tiger’s signing style changed quite a bit. The ball is white colored with the Nike logo and the number 1 on it, with Tiger’s signature.
Tiger Woods plays with Bridgestone Tour B XS – Tiger Woods Edition, a perfect fit for swing speeds of over 150mph. The ball is a collaboration between Bridgestone and Tiger Woods.
Did Tiger use Nike golf balls?
Tiger initially signed a contract with Nike and used to play with Nike golf balls. But after the discontinuation of Nike golf balls in 2016, Tiger now plays with Bridgestone golf balls.
How much is Tiger Woods’ signature worth?
Tiger Woods’signature, worth $4,363.57, is the 5th most expensive sporting signature in history. In golf, he has the most expensive signature of all time.
Who is the richest man in golf?
According to Forbes, Tiger Woods is the richest golfer, with a net worth of at least $1 billion, making him one of the only three athlete billionaires.
What is the cheapest signed ball of tiger woods?
There is no such cheapest signed ball as the ball prices are decided by auction. So till now, the cheapest signed ball of tiger woods is the Nike golf ball with the number 2 and Tiger’s autograph. It has been auctioned for $9532.80
