Augusta (United States) (AFP) – Colombia’s Nicolas Echavarria defeated American J.J. Spaun in a playoff to win Wednesday’s Masters Par-Three Contest, risking a green jacket curse on the eve of the year’s first major showdown. Echavarria, who qualified for his first Masters by winning last year’s PGA Zozo Championship in Japan, birdied the second extra hole while Spaun made bogey to take what has been a poisoned chalice triumph. No Par-Three Contest winner has ever donned the Masters champion’s green jacket in the same year.
“It feels awesome,” Echavarria said. “Being my first time and winning this, it feels incredible. Hopefully we change the tradition of never winning the Masters Par-Three Contest and the tournament itself. We’ll see about that.” The South American and Spaun each fired a five-under par 22 over the special nine-hole, 1,090-yard layout on the Augusta National grounds to share the lead. The playoff was contested on the 135-yard ninth hole, where both players opened with pars before Echavarria’s birdie brought victory.
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“Having a blast out here,” he said. “This place is truly special.” Echavarria would have to buck another Masters tradition to win. Only three players have won the green jacket in their first attempt, none since Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979. The contest, played since 1960, offers a relaxed atmosphere in the hours before the tension-packed tournament tees off Thursday morning. Non-competing past champions and participants are invited to play in the made-for-fun event, where children caddie and sometimes hit shots for their fathers, getting an unforgettable chance to feel a part of the action on one of golf’s grandest stages. The Par-Three Contest winner receives a crystal pedestal bowl while those who make aces are given a crystal vase. There have been 115 holes-in-one in the event, three being added this year.
– ‘So much fun’ –
Keegan Bradley, captain for this year’s US Ryder Cup team, aced the 140-yard sixth hole and hugged his children in excitement. “That was so fun,” Bradley said. “It was up there with my favorite moments of my golf career, maybe even my life. I’ll never forget that ever. I’ll remember that as much as any golf shot I’ve hit, with my family right there. It was pretty special.” Also making a hole-in-one at the sixth was five-time major winner Brooks Koepka. “It’s great to have such a relaxing event,” Koepka said while with one-year-old son Crew.
American Tom Hoge, the 2023 Par-Three Contest winner now at his third Masters, aced the 90-yard fourth hole, his second hole-in-one in the event after the eighth hole in 2023. “I don’t know if there are many keys. Just lucky I guess,” Hoge said. “Both of them hit beyond and spun into the hole.” Second-ranked Rory McIlroy, who would complete a career Grand Slam with a Masters victory, was out with his four-year-old daughter Poppy as caddie. “The build-up to this event is a lot,” McIlroy said. “It’s nice to have this. It means more when you have a family.” As for skipping possible practice time for light-hearted family moments, four-time major winner McIlroy said, “If you’re not ready by now, you don’t really have a chance.”
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