When you’re one of the most iconic athletes of all time, like Tiger Woods, nearly everything you touch becomes a must-have artefact

An artefact from Tiger Woods’ career that is potentially worth millions may be lost(Image: (Image: Getty))

The winning ball from Tiger Woods’ iconic 1997 Masters triumph has disappeared into thin air.

Multi-billionaire and founder of the pristine Alotian Club, Warren Stephens, got his hands on the ball when he was lucky enough to witness Woods’ incredible achievement 27 years ago.

His eldest son managed to pip all the other spectators to the golfing great’s ball when Woods sunk it on the 18th hole. However, despite the ball having a value well into the millions, Stephens and his family have misplaced it and have no idea where it is.

Speaking to the Golfer’s Journal podcast, Stephens said: “My oldest son was 11, he was sitting on 18 when Tiger walked off. Tiger or Fluff put the ball, gave the ball to our son. Now, the million-dollar question is, where is it?

“And I’m not 100 per cent sure. I’m not really sure. Um, I think we’ve still got it somewhere. Well, it’s probably in our house somewhere.”

Many of Woods’ clothes, clubs and equipment have a track record of being sold for millions. His irons from his heyday went for an astounding £3.9 million ($5.15m), and even a piece from his PGA Tour debut scorecard fetched $69,000 (£53,000).

Woods’ 1997 triumph is widely considered to be one of his finest achievements(Image: (Image: Getty))

Woods hasn’t won a major since his victory at The Masters in 2019. His performance has been hampered by injuries from a car accident in 2021.

Yet, he remains a massive draw for fans, including England’s football captain Harry Kane, who confessed on the Rick Shiels Golf Show that he once left his family just to play golf with Woods.

Recalling the incident, Kane said: “It’s a great story, I was out in the Bahamas and didn’t know he was there – where we go, you’re on buggies everywhere.

“So I’m travelling on a buggy and was driving past a golf pro I knew there and he was like, ‘Oh H, how you doing?’ just catching up, I hadn’t seen him in a while.

“He went, ‘Oh, by the way, I’m playing with Tiger this afternoon. You want to play?’ It was like one of them, ‘Yeah! Just give me a shout’, because the way he said it was just like a throwaway. I didn’t want to seem over keen, I just said, ‘Give me a text when you’re playing.’

“So I’m sitting there at lunch thinking, ‘I hope he’s not messaging me,’ after a couple hours of lunch, I’m getting out and walking to our house, I get three or four text messages coming through at once. It’s the golf pro saying, ‘Tiger said come play the back nine with us.’”