Tag: Masters Par 3 Contest

Rickie Fowler wins Masters Par 3 Contest on sunny day where aces were aplenty

Can Rickie break the curse?

AUGUSTA, Ga. — With so much focus on the competition the week of the Masters Tournament, Wednesday has become a welcome sight for many in the field.

The Masters Par 3 Contest is a way for players to decompress the day before the opening round, but also make lifelong memories with their families. Competing in his third Masters, Augusta resident Luke List embraces the ‘calm before the storm,’ so to speak.

“It’s a special week, and this kind of gets everything rolling,” he said. “Once this is over it’s time to go. Living here in Augusta now it’s really special being here, and, yeah, I just can’t wait to get going.”

Rickie Fowler took the day with a score of 5 under. Since its inception in 1960, no winner of the Par 3 Contest has ever donned a green jacket that same week. The level of superstition among the field continues to this day, with players letting caddies, significant others or their children step in to make the next shot, disqualifying them in the process.

Masters: Best Par 3 Contest photos | Kids galore at Par 3 Contest

Few moments are more iconic than a player’s child taking the club from their father. Gary Woodland knew long before setting foot on the No. 9 green who’d be taking his final stroke: his 6-year-old son, Jax.

“It was exciting. He’s thought about it all day,” he said. “He’s known that was going to be his shot. He told me to hit it a lot closer than that so I was apologizing I didn’t hit it closer for him. That was so cool. Just so see his reaction, that was very special.”

MASTERS: Live updates | Thursday tee times | TV, streaming

Of the 80 players in the field, just 16 turned in complete scores.

The Masters Par-3 Contest aces

Sepp Straka

Straka was the only player who aced a hole (No. 5) and played a complete round, finishing two strokes behind Fowler in a tie for second.

Luke List

The first hole-in-one of the day came from the Augusta resident. Oddly enough, this wasn’t List’s first ace during the Par-3 Contest, but to talk about that we’ll have to go back to when he was an amateur.

“A long time ago, 2005, I made one on No. 7 in the Par-3,” he said. “So this was kind of — it was awesome to have my family there. It was neat. I didn’t see it go in, just heard the crowd, you know it is. It’s organized chaos out there with the kids, but we had a good time.”

Gary Woodland

Woodland followed up List with the second ace of the day, which was also the first Par-3 Contest ace of his career.

“This is my 12th time playing the par-3. I’ve had some close calls. It was nice to see one go in,” he said. “Nice to see my kids’ reaction. They were so excited. I will say, my son making the putt on the last was more exciting for me than that ball going in.”

Viktor Hovland

Hovland was the third to ace No. 6 and the final hole-in-one of the day.

Lucas Glover

Glover aced No. 7.

Watch: Jordan Spieth’s son, Sammy, is following closely in dad’s footsteps at the Par 3 Contest

Future Masters champion in the making? Only time will tell.

If Jordan Spieth’s son is anything like he is, he’s bound to be exciting on the golf course.

Well, Sammy Spieth sure provided the crowd some good highlights during the Par 3 Contest on Wednesday at the 2024 Masters. Paired with Rickie Fowler and Fred Couples, Jordan, his wife Annie and kids Sammy and Sophie were one of the first groups out during the annual competition.

And Sammy even had a couple of his own clubs. And took some swings.

MASTERS: Live updates | Thursday tee times | TV, streaming

Spieth, the 2015 Masters champion, helped his son line up a shot on the tee before Sammy, hitting cross handed, blasted a ball toward the green.

The fans loved it.

Future Masters champion in the making? Only time will tell.

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Photos: All the cute kids at the Masters 2024 Par 3 Contest at Augusta National

It’s not the Par 3 Contest without all the cute kids running around.

AUGUSTA, Ga. — It’s not the Par 3 Contest without all the cute kids running around in their signature white caddie uniforms.

The Par 3 Contest is a Wednesday tradition at Augusta National Golf Club, played on a nine-hole, par-27, 1,090-yard course, which was originally designed by George Cobb and club co-founder Clifford Roberts in 1958.

The field features players entered in this year’s Masters as well as past champions. Some of the key groups include Fred Couples, Rickie Fowler and Jordan Spieth as well as Nick Faldo, Matt Fitzpatrick and Tyrrell Hatton.

The Par 3 Contest will be on ESPN+ from 12 p.m.-3 p.m. ET and on ESPN from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. ET.

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Check out some photos from the 2024 event.

ANWA participants get to experience this part of Augusta National for the first time this year

The Augusta National Women’s Amateur continues to grow and get better.

The Augusta National Women’s Amateur continues to grow and get better.

Introduced in 2019, it gave the world’s top female amateurs a shot at playing Augusta National Golf Club in what has become one of the premier amateur events on the calendar. And for the first time this year, players have a chance to participate in one of the signature highlights of Masters week.

During Friday’s practice round at Augusta National, ANWA participants were also able to play the Par 3 Course for the first time. The nine-hole layout was redesigned before the 2023 Masters, which rerouted holes 1-5 and took out trees for better patron viewing experiences.

ANWA: Players who made the cut | Augusta National photos

2024 Augusta National Women's Amateur
Kokoro Nakamura of Japan putts on the No. 9 green on the Par 3 course during a practice round for the Augusta National Women’s Amateur at Augusta National Golf Club, Friday, April 5, 2024. Chloe Knott/Augusta National

And on Friday, every ANWA participants, even those who didn’t make the putt, got to add the Par 3 Course to their practice-round experience.

Rory McIlroy shaking up Masters prep: won’t arrive until Tuesday, skipping Par 3 Contest in bid for elusive career Grand Slam

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.

For Rory McIlroy, he’s about to embark on his 16th attempt to win a Green Jacket at the Masters and his 10th try to complete the career Grand Slam.

But doing the same thing over and over is the definition of insanity, so McIlroy intends to shake things up again this year. Golfweek has learned McIlroy, who reportedly made a scouting trip Monday to play Augusta National, won’t return to the course until late Tuesday of tournament week and plans to skip the Par 3 Contest on Wednesday.

Last week, McIlroy participated in a small gathering with members of the Apogee Club, a private club with courses being built in Hobe Sound, Florida, and played with his TGL team member Keegan Bradley. During the round, which was taped for possible inclusion in season 3 of “Full Swing,” the Netflix documentary, and by Golf Channel for a future show on the hi-tech indoor TGL debuting in 2025, Bradley asked McIlroy when he was going to get to Augusta National ahead of the Masters. McIlroy said not until late Tuesday and explained to Bradley the lead-up to the start of the Masters drags too long so he intends to arrive later than he ever has before. (It’s not as if he doesn’t know how the course plays at this point.) In previous years, McIlroy has talked about killing time by doing puzzles at his rental house, and he’s also taught himself to juggle. He’s still trying to put the pieces together for what constitutes a winning approach to the Masters and ending his major-less skid, which dates to the 2014 PGA Championship.

Padraig Harrington once noted with all of McIlroy’s vast talent, all he really had to do was be patient.

“All Rory has to worry about is peaking the right weeks and his game is plenty good enough,” he said. “Wouldn’t you love to just be patient and wait for those weeks to turn up?”

Well, McIlroy has good reason to have become impatient. Those weeks of brilliance haven’t been turning up of late. While McIlroy did successfully defend his title in the DP World Tour’s Dubai Desert Classic in January, he has been mired in an early-season swoon (for him). McIlroy has failed to record a top-10 finish this season on the PGA Tour. If he fails to do so this week in San Antonio at the Valero Texas Open, it will mark the first time he’s headed into the Masters without one since 2010.

ESPN’s Andy North walked with McIlroy the last three rounds at the Players last month and rated his iron play this season as below average.

“His iron play this year has not been anywhere near to his standard. He had a great day with his irons on Thursday that week, and he thought he’d gotten over the hump,” North said. “That’s concerning to me, and I think that’s one of the reasons he’s playing this week. He wants to see if what he’s been working on the past couple weeks is what he wants to do.

“But to win at Augusta, you go back and look at the winners, everybody talks about putting and driving length and all that kind of stuff. Who hits the most greens has a great chance to win,” he added noting that Tiger Woods topped the field in greens in regulation in 2019 as did Scottie Scheffler in 2022.

McIlroy has top 10s in seven of the past 10 years at Augusta National but despite finishing a distant second in 2022, he really hasn’t been in the trophy hunt since playing alongside eventual champion Patrick Reed in 2018. Last year, he said he felt as confident as ever and flamed out early on Friday with a missed cut.

Fellow ESPN commentator Curtis Strange said he had talked to McIlroy’s mental coach Bob Rotella and the other reason McIlroy is playing the week before the Masters this year is simple: to keep his mind off next week.

“I like that he’s playing this week,” said Strange. “Bob said the main thing for Rory next week is to stay calm and cool. He had this phrase, ‘Mind has to be stronger than the swing,’ and I think in Rory’s case that’s exactly right because he does have some baggage coming into here because he knows he could have won here a couple of times but he knows he has the game as well.”

Added ESPN’s lead anchor Scott Van Pelt, “It’s a challenge to figure out how do you thread the needle? And maybe there’s no recipe because it’s hard to win this one. If he does, everyone’s going to say, well, of course. But if he doesn’t, then you join the list of guys going how the hell did I not win that tournament?”

Might as well shake things up in the lead up to the Masters. He’ll arrive later and take a more business-like approach with one goal in mind: to ensure the mind is stronger than the swing.

Ever wanted to play the Par 3 Course at Augusta National? Here’s your chance (sort of)

This may be your best chance to play the famed 9-hole course.

The Par 3 Contest is one of the best parts of Masters week every year.

Now, you have a chance to play the famed 9-hole course. Well, sort of.

As part of its Road to the Masters series, EA Sports PGA Tour is adding the par-3 gem at Augusta National Golf Club in a future update. Last year, the video game became the first in nearly a decade to feature Augusta National as a playable and licensed course. Now, the par-3 course is getting its due.

Some details haven’t been announced, like whether the Par 3 Contest will be a playable mode and official release date.

But, if you’ve ever wanted to take a swing at the most famous par-3 course in the world, this is probably the only chance you’ve got.

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Photos: Cutest images of kids at the Masters Par 3 Contest

The Masters Par 3 Contest is one of the most cherished moments each year at Augusta.

The annual Masters Par 3 Contest is nothing if not a collection of memorable moments for golfers and their families.

Golfers play the short course with their families, their kids decked out in the all-white caddie suits.

It’s mentioned every year that nobody has ever won the Par 3 and then gone on to win Masters Tournament in the same week. But that doesn’t take the fun out of the Wednesday tradition.

The original Par 3 course was built in 1958 when Augusta National co-founder Clifford Roberts enlisted Savannah’s George Cobb as its principal architect. Cobb’s design called for the playing of the nine holes over DeSoto Springs Pond. Three decades later, the club turned to Tom Fazio to add two holes (Nos. 8 and 9) over Ike’s Pond, and Cobb’s opening two holes transitioned to spectator seating.

Take a look at some of the best images of kids at the Par 3 Contest (including some from through the years):

Photos: 2023 Masters Par 3 Contest, won by Tom Hoge

Check out the best photos from the Par 3 Contest, one of the best traditions of Masters week.

It’s time for one of the best traditions of Masters week: the Par 3 Contest.

With the first major of the year beginning Thursday morning, many competitors will head to Augusta National Golf Club’s renovated Par 3 Course to enjoy nine holes with family, friends and others Wednesday afternoon.

After the Par 3 Contest was canceled in 2020 and 2021, last year’s edition was shortened because of weather, with Canadians Mike Weir and Mackenzie Hughes splitting the title at 4-under 23. It was the first time since 2012 there were multiple winners because of a suspension of play.

However, the 2023 edition is bound to be thrilling. The new course will be showcased for the first time to the world in one of the most heartwarming events in golf.

Masters 2023 leaderboard: Get the latest news from Augusta

Seamus Power made the first hole-in-one of the day on the eighth hole, and he did it again on the ninth hole. Bubba Watson aced the fourth. After Power aced the ninth, defending Masters champion Scottie Scheffler canned a shot on there, too. Later on, Tom Hoge joined Power with an ace at the eighth.

There are now 107 holes-in-one during the Masters Par 3 Contest. Power’s back-to-back aces are the third time it has happened.

As for the winner, Hoge went 4 under in his last four holes to shoot 6-under 21 and claim the victory. Watson and Kurt Kitayama tied for second at 5-under 22.

Here are the best photos from the afternoon at Augusta National’s short course:

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From Masters trophy to Eagle crystal: 10 prizes players can win aside from a green jacket

There are many ways for a player to make the Masters memorable.

From cloth to crystal, there are many ways for a player to make the Masters memorable.

The Masters stands alone in tournament golf because no other event provides such an elaborate array of prizes.

From the most coveted article of clothing in sports, the green jacket, to a variety of crystal glasses and bowls, the Masters sure does take care of participants who make memorable shots or produce memorable weeks.

Masters 2023 leaderboard: Get the latest news from Augusta

Here’s a closer look at the 10 prizes golfers can win at Augusta National Golf Club.

Masters survey 2023: Does the Par 3 curse deter pros from trying to win Wednesday’s contest?

All these years later, the curse of the Par 3 Contest winner lives.

Nobody has ever won Wednesday’s Par 3 Contest and the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club in the same week.

Raymond Floyd came closest in 1990, when the 47-year-old was in line to become the oldest Masters champion. Floyd recorded his only Par 3 victory and seemed on course to snap the curse Sunday afternoon. Following a birdie on No. 12, Floyd was four strokes clear of Nick Faldo with six holes to play. But Faldo ended up slipping into a Green Jacket in a playoff for a second straight year.

Just three years later, Chip Beck won the warm-up act and was three strokes behind Bernhard Langer entering Sunday’s 15th hole. But Beck laid up from the fairway and Langer coasted to his second Masters crown.

Masters 2023 leaderboard: Get the latest news from Augusta

All these years later, the curse of the Par 3 Contest winner lives. Do today’s pros believe in it, and did the Par 3 curse deter them from participating or trying to win the Par 3?

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