Tom Watson wins again at Augusta’s Par 3 Contest

With the 2018 Masters Tournament less than 24 hours away, golfers young and old turned in highlight after highlight during Augusta’s Par 3 Contest.

Since 1960, the pre-Masters tradition of the Par 3 Contest at Augusta National has captivated competitors, family and fans each Wednesday before the opening round tees off on Thursday. To the victor go the spoils, just never a green jacket. The 2018 Par 3 Contest continued the tradition of touching memories and crowd-inciting cheers.

The newest generation of golfers certainly had their moments, but at the end of the day it was golf’s icons who reigned supreme. Popular players including the threesome of Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas and Rickie Fowler had a nice relaxing round of laughs and smiles around the 1,060-yard, nine-hole course.

The first major highlight of the day belonged to 27-year old South African Dylan Frittelli who scored a hole in one at the eighth hole.

Taking nothing away from Frittelli’s incredible shot, for better or worse, it was the day’s least memorable of the three holes in one made. Certainly “for worse” came at hole seven when Tony Finau rolled in a remarkable hole in one. Unfortunately while jogging backward during his celebration Finau seemingly stumbled, dislocated his ankle and then popped it back in.

While they were full of excitement and storylines of their own, the young guns of The Masters couldn’t hold a candle to the most experienced group on the course. With 11 green jackets between them, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Tom Watson were the ones to watch all afternoon. At an average age of 76, the three legends each turned back the clock to put on a show for the fans.

At 82 years young, Player continued to show his mastery of the game as he finished 10th with a 2-under round. One of the most respected icons of the course may have officially passed the proverbial baton, or in this case iron, to the next generation of golfer. Nicklaus shot a respectable 4-under, but it was the hole in one on the final hole by his 15-year-old grandson, Gary, that brought the crowd roaring to its feet.

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When all the putts were played and the scores tallied, it was 68-year-old Tom Watson who reigned supreme. Needing only eight putts over the nine holes to take home the Par-3 crown, Watson becomes the oldest player to win the Par 3 Contest by over seven years (Sam Snead won in 1974 at the age of 61). Luckily for Watson, the curse of the Par 3 won’t claim another victim, as he officially hung up his cleats from Masters competition in 2016.

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