PGA Tour

Masters Par 3 Contest Delivers Plenty of Excitement

Posted onAuthorDan Hauser
Par 3 Contest

If today’s Par 3 Contest is any indication of what is in store the next four days, I might not make it to Sunday.

After a year off thanks to Mother Nature canceling the event for the first time in history, the Masters Par 3 Contest returned on Wednesday and oh boy did it not disappoint.

While we didn’t see nearly as many hole-in-ones as the record breaking performance two years ago, there was no lack of excitement at this year’s event thanks to a couple of old timers who decided they were going to party like it was 1979.

68 year old Tom Watson won the event playing with 82 year old Gary Player and 78 year old Jack Nicklaus. Watson won at 6-under and the three combined to shoot 12-under. Oh, and if that wasn’t cool enough, Nicklaus’ grandson Gary took a whack at #9 and did this:

Yup, just the grandson of Jack Nicklaus recording his first ever hole-in-one at Augusta National on national TV and in front of thousands of patrons.

In addition to it being “Turn the Clock Back Wednesday”, some other excitement took place on the day.

The day started with Dylan Frittelli making an ace on the 8th:

Then there was Tony Finau who made a hole-in-one before proceeding to go full blown Bill Gramatica with the celebration:

As you can see from the video, Finau appeared to twist his ankle before POPPING IT BACK INTO PLACE. What is with golfers popping joints back in to place at Augusta?

There was also this from Bubba:

At 68, Watson becomes the oldest Par 3 Contest winner. Oh, and for that believe the curse of the Par 3 Contest is real, Watson is not competing in this year’s Masters.

Author: Dan Hauser

Dan is the co-founder of The Stiff Shaft and the website's Senior Writer. A South Florida native, Dan has been covering golf since 2013 and playing it his entire life. He is still waiting for his first hole-in-one.