Tom Hoge ended up profitable the Masters Par 3 Contest, with a 6-under 21, the second-lowest rating for the reason that first Par 3 Contest was held in 1960.
As Hoge and anybody with greater than a passing curiosity within the Masters is aware of, the Par 3 winner has by no means gone on to win the Masters.
Hoge appeared unfazed by the historical past as he appeared forward to the beginning of his second Masters amid predictions of weekend rain.
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Hoge hopes climate breaks Masters curse
“Just go out and try and play well,” he mentioned. “We have some crazy weather here forecast, so not really sure what to expect in that regard, but I guess good start here to the week today, so try to keep that going.”
A complete of 5 holes-in-one had been made within the Masters Par 3 Contest on Wednesday afternoon, together with two in a row by Seamus Power to shut out his spherical and one by the defending Masters champion, Scottie Scheffler.
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The flurry introduced the full variety of aces within the historical past of the occasion to 107.
Power’s first ace, the primary within the discipline, got here on the 114-yard eighth gap, which performs downhill over Ike’s Pond. The ball landed previous the flag and, in Augusta National vogue, slowly fed down a slope and into the cup. “A little Irish bounce there,” mentioned Power, who’s from Waterford, in southeast Ireland.
His ace on the following gap, the 135-yard ninth, adopted the same path as soon as it hit the inexperienced. “Obviously to get one was special,” Power mentioned, “but to get the second one was a bit surreal.”
It was the third time {that a} participant made consecutive holes-in-one within the Par 3 Contest. Toshi Izawa aced Nos. 5 and 6 in 2002, and Claude Harmon, the membership professional who received the 1948 Masters, pulled off the feat at Nos. 4 and 5 in 1968.
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Scheffler makes extra historical past
Still extra historical past was made Wednesday when Scottie Scheffler grew to become the third defending champion to make a hole-in-one, following Mike Weir in 2004 and Tom Watson in 1982.
Scheffler’s ace, at No. 9, required some video forensics to verify. He and his taking part in companions, Tom Kim and Sam Burns, hit their tee pictures in unison. All three balls had been monitoring towards the flagstick and after they landed, there have been three balls on or close to the entrance fringe of the inexperienced. However, a slow-motion replay aired a number of instances, ahead and backward, by ESPN confirmed one of many pictures descending on the flagstick and disappearing into the cup.
“When I got it out of the hole, it was mine,” Scheffler mentioned of the ball, hoping to dispel any confusion.
The different two aces had been made by Bubba Watson, on the new 67-yard 4th gap, and Tom Hoge at No. 8.
As all the time, the Par 3 Contest was a spirited household affair, with toddlers operating down the fairways in miniature variations of the white caddie jumpsuit, with their fathers’ names on the again. On one gap, Harold Varner III scooped his 18-month-old son, Liam, to cease him from selecting up his father’s ball. On a later gap, Liam did simply that and deposited the ball into the cup.
Si Woo Kim had his spouse, the Korea LPGA participant Ji Hyun Oh, caddie for him. At No. 9, she borrowed his membership and hit a tee shot inside her husband’s and easily sank the putt for birdie.
Given its monumental reputation in recent times, the Par 3 Contest had all however outgrown the compact course on which it was performed. To higher accommodate the patrons, the Club had an in depth renovation completed previous to this Masters, eradicating bushes to open up strolling corridors and broaden views throughout the pristine nook of the property. On Wednesday, patrons circulated extra simply than in years previous.
The first 5 holes had been repositioned to deliver DeSoto Springs Pond, the bigger of the 2 mirror ponds on the course, extra into play. What’s extra, contouring was added to the greens on these holes to reinforce the way in which well-played pictures feed towards the cup, simply as Watson’s did at No 4.
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