Tiger Woods signed golf ball.

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Permalink Reply by Stephen Duncan on December 14, 2009 at 4:50am

I am not at all a sports collector, but it sure sounds silly to get a golf ball signed, when if given the chance, a Sports Illustrated or a golf magazine sure would be a better and clearer signed collectable.

Permalink Reply by Louis Becerra on December 17, 2009 at 4:15pm

I suspect that the Woods signed golf balls may have been signed earlier in his career before he adopted a personal policy of not signing them. Or, they could have been signed for close friends or family of his and changed hands with others. Most up and coming stars will sign anything early on in their career, and get more particular about their signing habits and what items they sign later on after they become wildly popular...

Permalink Reply by DB on December 6, 2011 at 9:13am

In lieu of a recent "auctioneers" episode on Tiger Woods signed golfballs thought we'd bring this thread back.  Seems Tiger stopped signing golf balls in 1997 and while there may always be rare exceptions he seems to hold...

So as I was watching this episode it appears that this individual name Winward was trying to sell a Tiger Woods signed golf ball.  The story goes that his now ex-wife and father were walking a course (torry pines) where Woods was practicing and hit an errant shot.  She alledges that she picked it up and asked Tiger to sign it which he supposedly did.  During the divorce one of the attornies estimated the value at several thousand dollars as part of the financials.

The auctioneers brought in an expert who specializes in Tiger Wood Golf balls and while the signature seemed "passable" there was something troubling him about the ball.  He then contacted the manufacturer who indicated this specific ball wasn't issued for use until the mid 2000s (i.e. 2005...) and thus it would be impossible for Woods to have signed it 14 or 15 years earlier.

the episode closes with Winward giving the bird to the cameraman while having a "meltdown" on why his wife would have alledgedly mislead him.  It's an interesting episode to watch in it's entirety.

Permalink Reply by DB on December 6, 2011 at 9:45am

and in partial answer to the why question:

“It is Tiger's policy NOT to sign golf balls,” said Rob McNamara, vice president of Tiger’s ETW Corporation. “This has been his policy since a very early age, prior to turning professional.”

It’s much the same for Mickelson.  Mickelson has signed a number of balls for each of his children and locked away the boxes, hoping his children’s special gift will be valuable years from now.”

Golf balls are small with uneven surfaces that make them difficult to sign in the best of circumstances and certainly not when a player is walking or moving through a crowd.  The fact that they are hard to sign is compounded when those signatures then become hard to authenticate and even major authenticators have been fooled.

Reports from McNamara relate that Tiger can’t remember the exact date, the superstar stopped signing golf balls but apparently it was before he turned pro and that could certainly coincide with 1997 as he won his first major (the masters) although he was ROY for 1996 with the PGA.

Permalink Reply by mike aring on January 17, 2012 at 10:19am

where in the world do people get these stories like "Mickelson has signed a number of balls for each of his children and locked them up hoping this will be valuable someday."

has anyone gotten this out of phil's mouth??? because that is just ludicrous.. wouldn't his stock portfolio, property and anything else he's invested in be valuable someday that a few golf balls aren't going to bring to market hundreds of thousands of dollars...

i believe that he's just stopped signing them for the simple fact that dealers don't have to spend a lot of money on golf balls and can walk around the course with them and not get thrown out (many current PGA events, you will get thrown ot if caught with photos on the course that you didn't buy on the course at one of their shops. same with olf bags, clube etc... and i've seen cops enforce that and have been personally told to go to my car to take my stuff back at the memorial -and a cop walked with me to my car, which that cop got an earful from me because i don't take that stuff too well). any event in southern california, there are signs all over the place saying that memorabilia will be confiscated. try doing a PGA event in palm springs... hahah! so it's easy to carry around golf balls and get anyone you see to sign. but then, if people stop signing golf balls what else is there... programs and the flage they sell at the tourneys... that's really all they want to sign.

 

Permalink Reply by DB on January 17, 2012 at 1:21pm

Mike you are certainly entitled to your belief and theory.  It would also seem to me Rob McNamara would be in a much better position.

I wonder what the value of a Tiger Woods golf ball would fetch by his kids if Tiger was playing 18 in the clouds?  Would it be the equivalent to his portfolio (or what he still has left at the moment) of course not....  but for some it would be valuable as it defines him to the sport he loves.

Nonetheless, I'll take McNamara at his "observation" until such time there is empirical evidence to the contrary.

Wow, they will actually confiscate memorabillia... what have you autograph hounds done to those poor Golfers   lol

Permalink Reply by mike aring on January 17, 2012 at 8:24pm

actually, it's my understanding that it all started with Jack Nicklaus saying that the "hounds" are ruining it for the little old ladies and kids who just want to get an autograph as all the pushing and shoving make it hard for everyone to get at least one.

celebrity golf tourneys are a different story. I went to tahoe MANY years ago, and everywhere you looked, there were pyramid piles of basketballs where the groups would just pile their stuff (of course barkley AND Jordan were playing that tournament then.) a lot of us just had huge hockey bags full of stuff that we would carry around.

i don't think the golf tourneys would be so bad if it weren't for tiger woods... everyone wants to get one, or many... and if they can't, might as well try to make as much money as you possibly can in the process.

I don't know who bob mcnamara is.. but i know phil mickelson pretty well (like i said, he lives in scottsdale, i lived in scottsdale etc.) i was more just iterating why he wouldn't sign golf balls, but he quit signing golf balls before he got married, so that kid thing is completely out the window. i've heard that same or a similar story for many different atheletes over the years... john stockton didn't sign cards so his kids could have a one of a kind item, tom hulse doesn't sign hunchback of notre dame stuff because he wants his kids to have the only ones... the list is endless (gary gaitti wouldn't sign angels' cards so that his kids and their friends would be the only ones with em.)... it's endless, and not true. the mickelson thing, same situation... he told me (and several hundred others at that NBA party why he doesn't sign golf balls back then.- and i told you.) 

oops,i though mcnamara was someone telling you the mickelson story... but i am sure that mcnamara doesn't know the whole story... i did WATCH tiger sign golf balls like crazy at the first few tourneys i saw once he went pro (we did a lot of golf back then as Davis Love the third was the only tough one then, and it ALL sold). he could have quit DURING his first year, but he was quite deliberate about signing them at the begining.