First introduced in 1960, the Par 3 Contest has become one of the famous traditions at The Masters and signals the final act in the build-up before the serious action gets under way at Augusta National.
Along with the Champions Dinner, the Green Jacket, Magnolia Lane and the Azaleas, the Par 3 Contest one of the treasured ingredients that combine to make The Masters such an iconic event.
A fun-packed spin around a separate nine-hole par-3 course is now a way for players competing in the tournament to let the hair down with friends and family before the serious stuff begins.
Previous champions can also compete and get that feeling back of what it's like to play in front of the patrons at Augusta National - and there's usually plenty of laughs and holes-in-one to be had.
There have been 112 holes-in-one in the Par 3 Contest over the years, with the record being nine in 2016 and five aces scored last year as Rickie Fowler took the honors.
Sam Snead won the first event in 1960, but it's not a competition you want to win if you're dreaming of a Green Jacket as no Par 3 Contest champion has ever gone on to claim The Masters in the same year.
That curse means players who fancy winning The Masters often get their kids or relatives to hit a shot during the competition, which officially disqualifies them from the event and thereby saves them from having to go against history.
Masters Par 3 Contest tee times
All times ET
- Noon Jose Maria Olazabal, Angel Cabrera
- 12:07 p.m. Max Homa, Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas
- 12:14 p.m. Jason Day, Bubba Watson, Min Woo Lee
- 12:21 p.m. Lucas Glover, Will Zalatoris, *Evan Beck
- 12:28 p.m. Ian Woosnam, Larry Mize, Bernhard Langer
- 12:35 p.m. Scottie Scheffler, Sam Burns, Tom Kim
- 12:49 p.m. Gary Player, Charl Schwartzel, Thriston Lawrence
- 12:56 p.m. Tom Watson, Mark O'Meara, Nick Faldo
- 1:03 p.m. Davis Riley, Austin Eckroat, Davis Thompson
- 1:10 p.m. Russell Henley, Keegan Bradley, *Justin Hastings
- 1:17 p.m. Billy Horschel, Kevin Yu, Nick Dunlap
- 1:24 p.m. Matt McCarty, Maverick McNealy, Jhonattan Vegas
- 1:38 p.m. Thomas Detry, Matthieu Pavon, Christiaan Bezuidenhout
- 1:45 p.m. Nicolai Højgaard, Rasmus Højgaard, Justin Rose
- 1:52 p.m. Max Greyserman, Denny McCarthy, Zach Johnson
- 1:59 p.m. Akshay Bhatia, Sahith Theegala, Nicolas Echavarria
- 2:06 p.m. Matt Fitzpatrick, Ludvig Åberg, Aaron Rai
- 2:13 p.m. Wyndham Clark, J.J. Spaun, Cameron Young
- 2:27 p.m. Ben Crenshaw, *Hiroshi Tai, *Noah Kent
- 2:34 p.m. Joe Highsmith, Cameron Davis, Tom Hoge
- 2:41 p.m. Sepp Straka, J.T. Poston, Chris Kirk
- 2:48 p.m. Byeong Hun An, Michael Kim, Brian Campbell
- 2:55 p.m. Shane Lowry, Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood
- 3:02 p.m. Adam Schenk, Stephan Jaeger, Fred Couples
- 3:16 p.m. Brian Harman, Patton Kizzire, Harris English
- 3:23 p.m. Taylor Pendrith, Corey Conners, Nick Taylor
- 3:30 p.m. Robert MacIntyre, Tyrrell Hatton, Viktor Hovland
- 3:37 p.m. Rafael Campos, Tony Finau, Jon Rahm
- 3:44 p.m. *Jose Luis Ballester, Sergio Garcia, Patrick Reed
- 3:51 p.m. Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson
- 4:05 p.m. Danny Willett, Laurie Canter
- 4:12 p.m. Bryson DeChambeau
Par 3 Contest course & format
Set just beyond the rest of the course, the nine-hole layout was designed by George Cobb and Cliff Roberts.
It's an idyllic setting alongside two bodies of water - DeSoto Springs Pond and Ike's Pond - with crowds packed on the banks by the lakes to watch players hit over the water on numerous shots.
The course record of an eight-under 19 is held by Jimmy Walker (2016) and with helpful pin placements promoting low scores there's always plenty of great shots for patrons to watch.
It's a straight strokeplay competition but being just nine holes it means that there's been a playoff 21 times, while the tournament has finished in a tie three times.
How to watch the Masters Par 3 Contest
The traditional Masters warm-up that is the Par 3 Contest starts at noon ET at Augusta National, with coverage first being streamed live before TV coverage kicks in at 2pm.
Date: Wednesday, April 9
Where: Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia
Time: 12 p.m. ET
Live TV: ESPN (2-4 pm ET), Sky Sports in the UK (7pm-10pm BST)
Live Streaming: Masters.com (free in US), Masters app (free in US), ESPN+ ($11.99/mon)
Watch from anywhere: Try NordVPN 100% risk-free
Full details: How To Watch The Masters 2025: Live Streams, TV Channels, Schedule
Masters Par 3 contest recent winners
- 2024: Rickie Fowler (-5)
- 2023: Tom Hoge (-6)
- 2022: Mackenzie Hughes, Mike Weir (-4)
- 2021: Canceled (Covid-19)
- 2020: Canceled (Covid-19)
- 2019: Matt Wallace (-5)
- 2018: Tom Watson (-6)
- 2017: Canceled (bad weather)
- 2016: Jimmy Walker (-8)
- 2015: Kevin Streelman (-5)
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