Tiger made his return to competitive golf at this year’s Masters Credit: Reuters

The irons he used during his famous Tiger Slam have smashed golf memorabilia records Credit: The Mega Agency

Woods hits out of the bunker on his way to the 2001 Masters title Credit: Reuters

It was Tiger’s first competitive golf since his near-fatal car accident in February 2021, which led to horrendous leg injuries.

And he showed glimpses of his old genius, continuing his proud record of making the cut at every Masters he’s entered.

Clubs used by Tiger during his incredible Major winning streak in 2000 and 2001 were put up for auction by private equity investor Todd Brock.

He had reportedly bought them in 2010 at another auction for $57,242 from Titleist vice president Steve Mata.

Mata submitted a polygraph test to prove that the Titleist 681-T irons were authentic, with Brock also delving into the archives to photo-match the set.

Brock explained to ESPN: “I’ve had them for 12 years now, and I haven’t told anybody that I owned them.

“They were in a really nice frame in my office and I’m not an investor in memorabilia, so nobody was seeing the irons.

“I’ve had the opportunity to see these for 12 years and it’s like a Rembrandt, where somebody takes it to their castle and it’s never seen again.

“I felt blessed that I got to hang out with them and look at them, but it’s time for somebody else to do something bigger and better with them.”

But Tiger’s agent Mark Steinberg denied their legitimacy.

He said: “Tiger has the authentic set of the Slam irons in his house.”

But Golden Age Auctions stands by their listing, saying: “We would not put anything up for sale we weren’t wholly confident in.”

GAA founder Ryan Carey continued: “The two Titleist executives who were in charge of Tiger’s clubs have signed sworn affidavits asserting their legitimacy – one took a polygraph and passed it, and the original buyer in 2010 did his due diligence as well.

“And just take a look at the 8-iron wear mark. That club was clearly struck in the dead center thousands of times by the greatest ball-striker in the world.”

The clubs were used during Woods’ incredible Tiger Slam, which saw him win the US Open, British Open and PGA Championship in 2000 and follow it up with the 2001 Masters.

They sold for an incredible $5,156,162, shattering the previous golf memorabilia record held by Horton Smith’s green jacket ($682,000 in 2013).

Woods completed his Masters comeback on +13, finishing the event in 47th place.

He has already announced he will play in this year’s British Open at St Andrews, which starts on July 14.

Woods won his Tiger Slam using the irons in 2000 and 2001Credit: Reuters

The clubs were sold for a whopping $5.1m at auctionCredit: The Mega Agency