Tom Hoge risks Masters curse, edges LIV's Bubba Watson in Par-3 win
Sign up now: Get the biggest sports news in your inbox
Tom Hoge posing with the Par-3 Contest trophy at the Masters in Augusta on April 5.
PHOTO: AFP
Follow topic:
AUGUSTA – Tom Hoge overtook LIV Golf’s Bubba Watson with an ace-birdie finish to win Wednesday’s Masters Par-3 Contest, risking an Augusta National curse on the eve of the year’s first Major.
No winner of the contest has captured the green jacket in the same year, thus building the tradition of a Masters hoodoo.
Two-time Masters champion Watson, who aced the 67-yard fourth hole, had led the contest on five-under 22 and it seemed LIV Golf, the Saudi-backed upstart, might grab an Augusta National triumph of sorts before the tournament even began.
But world No. 26 Hoge, who won his only PGA Tour title at Pebble Beach in 2022, had no problem claiming the one-shot win on the special 1,055-yard nine-hole layout.
At the 114-yard eighth hole, Hoge saw his ball backspin into the hole to match Watson for the lead. “Was cool to see that go in,” said the 33-year-old American.
He then seized the lead at the 135-yard ninth, after curling in a long birdie putt, with Watson settling for a share of second with American compatriot Kurt Kitayama.
“Just a fun day out here with my wife caddying for me. Good start to the week, so try to keep that going,” said Hoge, who was joint 39th on his Masters debut in 2022.
Watson can take comfort from his fine form ahead of the Masters. When asked about his aspirations for the rest of the week, which has plenty of rain in the forecast, the 44-year-old said: “Keep hitting the ball well.
“I was hitting the short irons well here. Been hitting it good all week. With the weather coming in, nobody knows what’s going to happen.”
There were five aces in all in the contest, a relaxed event with kids, spouses and parents as caddies.
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, the defending Masters champion, aced the ninth hole – a good omen as he tries to match Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and Nick Faldo as the only back-to-back green jacket winners.
Tom Watson in 1982 and Canada’s Mike Weir in 2004 were the only other defending champions to make a hole-in-one in the contest.
Ireland’s Seamus Power had the other two aces at the eighth and ninth holes, becoming only the third player with back-to-back aces in the contest after American Claude Harmon in 1968 and Japan’s Toshi Izawa in 2002.
Power said. “To get one was special but to get the second one was a bit surreal... I don’t know whether it carries into tomorrow, but it’s certainly a lifelong memory that I’ll treasure for a long time.” AFP
