Rickie Fowler takes the win in Masters’ Par 3 Contest

AUGUSTA, Ga. - The family fun of the laid-back Par 3 Contest took place Wednesday at Augusta National Golf Club.

The first shot was at noon as part of pre-Masters activities, and Rickie Fowler of the United States won with a score of five-under-par 22.

Five holes-in-one were recorded: Lucas Glover (No. 7), Viktor Hovland (No. 6), Luke List (No. 6), Sepp Straka (No. 5) and Gary Woodland (No. 6).

A total of 112 holes-in-one have been made since the inception of the Par 3 Contest in 1960.

Trophies are awarded to the winner and to the contestants who place their tee shot nearest the flagstick on each of the nine holes.

Past champions and current players are invited to the Par 3 Contest, and their families, including their spouses and kids, often serve as their caddies — or at least dress like caddies. And they often make the shots.

The competitors work through nine holes ranging from 70 to 140 yards in the northeast corner of the Augusta National grounds. There have been nearly 100 holes-in-one during the contest — nine of them in 2016.

Fowler has returned to the Masters after a three-year absence, and already he’s been able to lift up a trophy.

The question now is whether that will cost him a chance to slip on a jacket.

“This is a place you don’t want to miss,” said Fowler, who spent most of three years chasing his game before winning the Rocket Mortgage Classic last year in a playoff with Collin Morikawa and Adam Hadwin. “Sitting on the couch, it’s one of the few events that you would watch as a fan and professional golfer, but it’s a lot better when you’re a part of it.”

The Par 3 Contest on Wednesday was all about fun.

It was about Fowler playing alongside Jordan Spieth, both of their young kids dressed in miniature versions of the traditional white boiler suits that caddies wear at Augusta National. Spieth’s son, Sammy, managed to knock his yellow ball into the water in front of the ninth tee, and for a second it looked as if the youngster might dive in after it.

There was Bubba Watson, the two-time Masters champion, giving his putter to his daughter, Dakota, and watching her drain a long one, and Grayson Murray’s fiancee, Christina, hitting an approach shot to the eighth to within a few feet of the hole.

Scottie Scheffler had his sister, Sara, on the bag. At one point, the 2022 champion and world No. 1 asked her for the distance to the hole, and she considered it for a moment. “I think about 88,” Sara replied. Turned out to be more like 100.

Nobody had more caddies than Tony Finau, though, who once dislocated his ankle celebrating an ace during the Par 3 Contest but popped it back into place and went on to finish that Masters in the top 10. Along with his wife, Alayna, they had their five children in tow, giving Finau an army of six to help carry his pared-down bag around the course.

Speaking of aces, there were five of them Wednesday.

Luke List, who calls Augusta his hometown these days, had the first, though it wasn’t his first in the contest. He had one way back in 2005, after he had earned a Masters invitation with a runner-up finish at the U.S. Amateur.

“This was kind of awesome to have my family there. It was neat,” List said. “I didn’t see it go in, just heard the crowd. You know how it is. It’s organized chaos out there with the kids, but we had a good time.”

Straka, Viktor Hovland, Gary Woodland and Lucas Glover also had aces on a warm, sun-drenched afternoon, perhaps the last of the sunshine for a while, with the forecast calling for thunderstorms for Thursday’s opening round.

“Now I can put my name on that list,” said Straka, who had a hole-in-one on No. 12 on the big course during a practice round last year. “Yeah, it’s a very special thing to do, and a great time to have some of my best friends with me.”

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