Fan puts up Tiger Woods’ first hole-in-one ball for auction, expected to go for $50,000

Tiger Woods has been blessed with the most decorated career. He is one of the greatest golfers of all time. Woods, an inductee of the World Golf Hall of Fame, is a household name.

His golf ball is up for auction now and is expected to go for more than $50,000. In 1996, Bob Gustin was watching a match when the golfer flipped his ball into the crowd. As Woods went to retrieve it, his fans pleaded with him to throw the ball to the audience, and he obliged.

Initially, the ball landed in David Beck's hand (Gustin's brother-in-law). However, it bounced and wound up in Bob's lap, making it the most memorable day of his life. Luckily, with the help of tournament director Tom Strong, the ball was signed by the 15-time major winner, Tiger Woods.

For years, Gustin has cherished the ball and has now decided to cash in from the auction.

Tiger Woods' golf ball auctioning at Heritage Auction (Image via Golf)

Woods recorded his first hole with the help of the ball. Its significance is immense, and truly, it is valuable. Ahead of the Heritage auction, Golf reported that the ball is expected to go for more than $50,000.

According to Heritage Auctions' sports consignment director, Chris Nerat, it isn't easy to equate the significance of the ball.

He said:

"This is more than just something hitting a home run or scoring a touchdown in the first game because those things, while exceedingly difficult and impressive, happen far more frequently than a hole-in-one."

Chris went on to say:

"Then you have to add in the fact that Tiger Woods arrived with huge pressure. He had been on TV as a kid and won so much as an amateur, everyone who knew anything about golf knew exactly who he was. This wasn’t like a first-round pick who should become a great player. He was tagged as a can’t-miss superstar. Maybe you could compare this to LeBron James, who came out of school with can’t-miss expectations, scoring 50 points in his debut or something like that. But there aren’t many parallels that can be drawn."

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Tiger Woods' first professional match

Tiger Woods is a phenomenal golfer. He turned professional at the age of 20. Woods started his journey on August 29, 1996, at the Greater Milwaukee Open and made the cut.

With the victory, Woods signed an advertising deal with Nike, Inc. and Titleist. It was considered one of the greatest deals of the time.

In 1997, Tiger won his first major, the Masters, at 21. He soon set a record for the fastest ascent to the Official Golf Rankings of No. 1.

The success continued, and in 2000, Woods won six consecutive events on his PGA Tour. It was the longest winning streak since 1948. Woods won 13 major golf championships and held numerous records.

Tiger is the recipient of many awards. He won the Byron Nelson Award and the PGA Player of the year 11 times.

Woods also won 18 World Golf Championships and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by American President Donald Trump.