Par 3: four aces
The Masters Par 3 Contest produced a rare bit of spectacle — four hole‑in‑ones in the same contest — giving the tournament a viral highlight reel before the main event. Those aces (from players like Fleetwood, Thomas, Bradley and Clark in the clips) are exactly the kind of shareable moments that widen the Masters’ audience ahead of weekend coverage. (youtube.com) (youtube.com)
Four balls disappeared into the cup in one Wednesday afternoon at Augusta National, and none of them counted toward the Masters itself. Justin Thomas, Tommy Fleetwood, Wyndham Clark, and Keegan Bradley all made hole-in-ones in the 2026 Par 3 Contest on April 8. (theaugustapress.com) That is a lot for one event, even by Par 3 standards. The contest has been around since 1960, and the 2026 edition pushed the all-time total to 119 aces. (theaugustapress.com) The setup is built for this kind of chaos. The Masters Par 3 Contest is a nine-hole round on a separate par-27 course at Augusta National, with holes short enough to invite direct runs at the flag. (pgatour.com) It is also the loosest hour of Masters week. Players bring wives, children, and friends as caddies, and some let family members hit shots, which is why only 17 of the 85 entrants posted an official score in 2026. (golfweek.usatoday.com) The winner was Aaron Rai, who shot 6-under-par 21 with his wife, Gaurika, on the bag. Rai finished ahead of Jacob Bridgeman and John Keefer, who both posted 5-under-par 22. (theaugustapress.com) (sportingnews.com) Winning this event comes with one of golf’s strangest pieces of baggage. No player has ever won the Par 3 Contest and then won the Masters in the same week. (youtube.com) So the Wednesday trophy is half souvenir, half warning sign. Fifteen golfers have won both the Par 3 Contest and the Masters in their careers, but never in the same year. (golfweek.usatoday.com) The clips that traveled fastest were not the winning putts but the clean one-swing moments. ESPN’s highlights package centered the four aces, and Fleetwood’s came with his son Frankie alongside him, which is exactly the kind of scene this event produces better than any other round in golf. (youtube.com) (freep.com) That is why the Par 3 Contest survives as more than a warmup. On the day before the first round of the 2026 Masters, Augusta got four aces, a family photo album, and a winner in Aaron Rai, all in nine holes. (theaugustapress.com)
