Par‑3 contest delivered drama

Four balls disappeared straight into the cup at Augusta National on Wednesday, and the loudest roar of the afternoon may have belonged to 8-year-old Frankie Fleetwood missing the 9th green by inches on a second try after splashing his first shot into Ike’s Pond. Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Thomas, Wyndham Clark and Keegan Bradley supplied the aces; Frankie supplied the clip everyone kept replaying. (espn.com) (golfchannel.com) The official winner was Aaron Rai, who shot 6-under 21 and birdied his last four holes to finish one shot ahead of Jacob Bridgeman and Johnny Keefer. The unofficial winner was the format itself, because the Masters lets players turn a major-championship week into a family walk with children, wives, celebrities and half-serious swings. (usatoday.com) (pgatour.com) That looseness is built into the rules. The Par 3 Contest is a nine-hole exhibition on Augusta National’s separate short course, with holes that generally sit in the 90-to-155-yard range, so one good swing can turn into an ace and one child with a putter can turn a scorecard into a souvenir. (sports.yahoo.com) (pgatour.com) The contest has been part of Masters week since 1960, when Sam Snead won the first one. In 66 years, it has become the one Augusta tradition where competitors are allowed to look like dads, grandfathers and goofballs a day before they have to look like surgeons. (golfweek.usatoday.com) (pgatour.com) There is also one superstition hanging over every winner: no player has ever won the Par 3 Contest and then won the Masters in the same week. Rai now gets to carry a crystal trophy and a piece of golf folklore that says he may have picked the wrong Wednesday to get hot. (usatoday.com) (espn.com) Thursday morning showed the other half of the Masters formula. Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Tom Watson opened the 90th Masters with the Honorary Starters ceremony, a first-tee ritual that now uses three champions with 11 green jackets between them to begin play before the field hits a competitive shot. (cbssports.com) (usatoday.com) Nicklaus has served as an Honorary Starter since 2010, Player joined in 2012, and Watson joined in 2022. Augusta is basically opening its biggest week with living museum pieces who can still stripe a ceremonial tee shot down the first fairway. (cbssports.com) (pgatour.com) Put those two events together and the Masters ends up with a neat trick that other tournaments chase and rarely match. Wednesday gives you Tommy Fleetwood’s ace and Frankie Fleetwood trying to clear the water; Thursday gives you Nicklaus, Player and Watson at sunrise; by the time the first round settles in, Augusta has already filled phones with clips that feel both old and brand new. (espn.com) (usatoday.com)