Masters Tournament Par 3 Contest Explained

Masters Par-3 Contest
Location:	Augusta, Georgia, U.S.
Establishment:	1960
Course:	Augusta National Golf Club
Par:	27
Yardage:	^[1]
Org:	Augusta National Golf Club
Format:	Stroke play
Month Played:	April
To-Par:	−8 Jimmy Walker (2016)
Current Champion:	Rickie Fowler

The Masters Tournament Par-3 contest is a golf competition that precedes the Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. The first Par-3 contest was held before the 1960 tournament, and was won by three-time Masters champion Sam Snead.^[2] The contest takes place in a single round on a nine-hole, par-27 course in the northeast corner of the club's grounds, designed in 1958 by George Cobb and club founder Clifford Roberts.^[1]

Traditionally, the contest participants have invited family members to caddie for them, sometimes allowing them to play shots on their behalf. Through the 2019 contest, ninety-four holes in one have been recorded, including nine in the 2016 event.^[3]

Snead became the contest's first multiple winner in 1974, fourteen years after his first. The most recent is Tom Watson, who won his second Par-3 contest in 2018, 36 years after his first in 1982. Pádraig Harrington is the only one with three wins; he won his first pair in consecutive years (2003, 2004), as did Sandy Lyle (1997, 1998). Seven players have multiple wins; the other three are Isao Aoki, Jay Haas, and David Toms.

Jimmy Walker holds the course record of 19 (–8), set in 2016, which included an ace. The contest has been decided by a playoff on 21 occasions, and concluded with a tie twice. Just 14 of the 59 winners (including ties) are non-American. No winner of the Par-3 contest has gone on to win the Masters in the

Winners

Year	Winner	Country	To par^[4]	Masters finish
1960				T11
1961	Deane Beman (a)			CUT	^[5]
1962				T29
1963*				T28
1964	Labron Harris Jr. (a)			43
1965				T45	^[6]
1966				T17
1967*				4
1968				T29
1969*				CUT
1970				CUT
1971*				T9
1972				T12
1973				T10
1974*	Sam Snead (2)			T20
1975*				CUT
1976	Jay Haas (a)			CUT
1977*				T14	^[7]
1978*				CUT
1979				T23
1980				T38
1981	Isao Aoki (2)			T45	^[8]
1982*				T5
1983				T6
1984				CUT	^[9]
1985				CUT
1986*				T16
1987				T4	^[10]
1988				T33
1989*				39
1990				2
1991*				T22
1992				T25
1993				2	^[11]
1994				T27	^[12]
1995*				CUT	^[13]
1996*	Jay Haas (2)			T36	^[14]
1997*				T34	^[15]
1998	Sandy Lyle (2)			CUT
1999				CUT
2000*				T14	^[16]
2001				T31	^[17]
2002*				T20	^[18]
2003	Pádraig Harrington David Toms (2)			CUT T8	^[19]
2004*	Pádraig Harrington (2)			T13	^[20]
2005				DNP	^[21]
2006				CUT	^[22]
2007				CUT	^[23]
2008				CUT	^[24]
2009				T13
2010				CUT
2011				T4	^[25]
2012	Jonathan Byrd Pádraig Harrington (3)			T27 T8	^[26]
2013*				CUT	^[27]
2014				CUT	^[28]
2015*				T12	^[29]
2016				T29
2017	Contest canceled due to rain	^[30]
2018	Tom Watson (2)			DNP	^[31]
2019*				CUT	^[32]
2020	Contest canceled due to<	-- the--> COVID-19 pandemic	^[33]
2021
2022				T50 CUT	^[34]
2023				CUT	^[35]
2024				T30	^[36]

Key

* - playoff ^[5]

 - tie ^[5]

(a) - amateur

Masters champions who also won a Par-3 contest

Champions	Par-3 wins	Masters wins^[37]
	1960, 1974	1949, 1952, 1954
	1965	1959
	1967	1958, 1960, 1962, 1964
	1973	1967
	1982, 2018	1977, 1981
	1984	1973
	1987	1984, 1995
Raymond Floyd	1990	1976
	1994	2000
	1997, 1998	1988
	2007	1998
	2022	2003

• No player has won the Par-3 contest and the Masters in the same year, a fact well known by the players.^[38]
  Raymond Floyd came the closest in the 1990 tournament, but lost in a sudden-death playoff.^[39]
• Ben Crenshaw and Vijay Singh are the only players to win a Masters after winning a Par-3 contest.
• Tom Watson is the only player to hold both titles at once, for four days, winning the Par-3 contest in 1982 as defending Masters champion.^[40]

Notes

• Par is a predetermined number of strokes that a golfer should require to complete a hole, a round (the sum of the total pars of the played holes), or a tournament (the sum of the total pars of each round). E stands for even, which means the round was completed in the predetermined number of strokes.

External links

• About Golf – The Masters Par-3 Contest winners

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Notes and References

1. Web site: The Masters – The Par 3 Course . Golf Today . August 30, 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20161110090511/http://www.golftoday.co.uk/tours/majors/Masters_par_3_course.html . November 10, 2016 . dead.
2. Web site: The day an amateur won at Augusta National. The Augusta Chronicle . Doug. Stutsman. April 6, 2016 . October 26, 2016.
3. Web site: About The Par 3 Contest . Masters Tournament . April 17, 2020.
4. News: Scoring . BBC Sport . September 23, 2008 . September 16, 2005.
5. Web site: Historical Records & Stats – Par 3 Contest . The Masters . April 7, 2016.
6. Web site: Par-3 Contest offers big fun in a short round. The Augusta Chronicle . April 7, 2016 . April 8, 2015.
7. Web site: Down the Bobby Jones Expressway . . April 18, 1977 . April 7, 2016 . Walter . Bingham .
8. Web site: Isao Aoki of Japan, noted for his unusual putting.... April 8, 1981 . April 7, 2016. United Press International.
9. Web site: Tommy Aaron, winner of the Masters Championship in 1973,.... . April 11, 1984 . April 7, 2016 .
10. Web site: Crenshaw Wins Despite Dad's Advice Left-handed Approach Leaves O'Grady Last. . April 9, 1987 . April 7, 2016 . Bob . Fowler.
11. Web site: Kite Expects To Tee Off Despite An Aching Back. . April 8, 1993 . April 7, 2016 . Larry . Dorman .
12. Web site: Another Foreign Affair Set To Bloom At Augusta. . April 7, 1994 . Michael . Mayo . April 7, 2016.
13. Web site: Golf; Woods Has Injury Scare on Eve of Masters. . April 6, 1995 . April 7, 2016 . Larry . Dorman.
14. Web site: Haas wins Par-3. . April 11, 1996 . April 7, 2016 . Michael . Mayo.
15. Web site: USA: Augusta: Golf: Sandy Lyle wins annual Par-3 Contest. Associated Press . October 4, 1997 . April 7, 2016 .
16. Web site: Wednesday notebook: Perry prevails. ESPN . April 7, 2016 . April 6, 2000 .
17. Web site: Wednesday notebook: Is Toms cursed? . ESPN. April 7, 2016 . April 4, 2001 .
18. Web site: Price wins par-3; Izawa has pair of aces . . April 11, 2002 . April 7, 2016.
19. Web site: Harrington, Toms tie in Masters prelude . April 9, 2003 . April 7, 2016 . .
20. Web site: Tiger Woods to play in Par 3 competition at the Masters . Doug . Ferguson . April 7, 2015 . April 7, 2016. Yahoo Sports.
21. Web site: Jerry Pate wins Masters par-3 tourney . April 6, 2005 . April 7, 2016 . United Press International.
22. Web site: Crane Hopes To End Par 3 Curse . . April 7, 2016 . April 6, 2006. Randall . Mell.
23. Web site: Mark O'Meara wins the Par 3 contest. Golf Today. April 5, 2007. October 26, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160314105043/http://www.golftoday.co.uk/tours/2007/The_Masters/preview_12.html. March 14, 2016. dead. mdy-all.
24. Web site: Louis Oosthuizen wins par-3 Contest at Augusta . BBC Sport. April 7, 2016 . April 7, 2010.
25. Web site: Luke Donald wins Masters Par-3 Contest . Reuters . April 6, 2011 . April 7, 2016 . Larry . Fine.
26. Web site: Harrington, Byrd share Par 3 victory . PGA Tour . April 4, 2012 . April 7, 2016 . Mike . McAllister.
27. Web site: Ted Potter Jr. wins Par 3 in playoff. ESPN . April 7, 2016 . April 11, 2013 .
28. Web site: The Masters: Ryan Moore wins Augusta Par 3 Contest. CNN. April 7, 2016 . April 9, 2014 .
29. Web site: Kevin Streelman won Masters Par 3 Contest with special caddie . Yahoo Sports . Ryan . Ballengee . April 8, 2015 . April 7, 2016.
30. A Masters Par 3 Contest first: No winner declared after rain washes out the event . Golf Digest . Ryan . Herrington . April 5, 2017 . April 11, 2017.
31. Web site: Masters Par 3 Tournament 2018: Tom Watson Becomes Oldest Winner in History . Bleacher Report . Tim . Daniels . April 4, 2018 . April 4, 2018.
32. Woodard . Adam . Matt Wallace wins Masters Par 3 Contest, denies Sandy Lyle of historic third win . Golfweek . April 10, 2019 . April 10, 2019.
33. Web site: 2020 Masters Schedule Announced . The Masters Tournament . Augusta National Golf Club . 27 October 2020 . en.
34. Web site: Mike Weir, Mackenzie Hughes share Masters Par 3 title at Augusta National. ESPN. April 6, 2022. April 8, 2023.
35. Web site: McDonald. Patrick. 2023 Masters Par 3 Contest leaderboard, results: Tom Hoge wins, Scottie Scheffler walks off with hole-in-one. CBS Sports. April 5, 2023. April 5, 2023.
36. Web site: McDonald. Patrick. 2024 Masters Par 3 Contest leaderboard, results: Rickie Fowler wins, Viktor Hovland drains one of five aces. CBS Sports. April 10, 2024. April 10, 2024.
37. Web site: The Masters – Past Winners & Runners-Up . PGA Tour . October 29, 2016.
38. News: Par 3 jinx resting on pro's shoulders . Eugene Register-Guard . Oregon . April 11, 1991 . 6D.
39. News: Floyd devastated after late collapse . Wilmington Morning Star . North Carolina . Associated Press . Shearer . Ed . April 9, 1990 . 4B .
40. News: Watson takes Par-3 tournament in playoff . Gadsden Times . Alabama . Associated Press . April 8, 1982 . 17 .