Nicolas Echavarria has simply gained the one golf event on this planet that no person needs to win: the Masters Par 3 Contest.
Yearly at Augusta Nationwide, tensions cool on the Wednesday of Masters week so the Par 3 course can host a healthful, family-friendly occasion.
Gamers, joined by lovable younger children in boiler fits, unwind for just a few hours within the northeast nook of the property and attempt to make hole-in-ones.
Not all gamers select to participate – Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy typically decide out to deal with the main itself – whereas others don’t submit an official rating as they let caddies or relations hit pictures.
However these will not be the one the reason why golfers seemingly exit of their approach to keep away from successful.
That is as a result of no golfer has ever gained the Par 3 Contest and subsequently donned the Inexperienced Jacket at that 12 months’s version of the Masters.
This 12 months, it was Nicolas Echavarria taking down J.J. Spaun in a two-hole playoff to say victory.
And he might reside to remorse it.
The closest man to breaking the curse was Raymond Floyd, who gained the Par 3 Contest in 1990 and had a four-shot lead with six holes to play in the primary occasion, just for Sir Nick Faldo to edge him in a play-off.
Much more alarmingly, just one golfer has ever gained the Par 3 Contest after which gone on to say their first ever Masters title.
Even nonetheless, Vijay Singh needed to wait six years for his maiden Inexperienced Jacket in 2000 after successful the Par 3 Contest in 1994.
Ben Crenshaw is the one different golfer to win the Masters at any level of their profession after victory on the Par 3 Contest – and he already had a Inexperienced Jacket when he gained the pre-tournament occasion.
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However some have advised that even previous champions usually are not protected from the kiss of demise.
{Golfing} legends Sam Snead, Arnold Palmer and Tom Watson gained a number of Inexperienced Jackets, however by no means claimed one other after successful the Par 3 Contest.
In the meantime, current victors on the quick course haven’t solely did not win the Masters, but additionally carried out fairly poorly in it.
No golfer has even gained the Par 3 Contest and completed inside the highest ten for greater than a decade.
Current Par 3 Contest Winners
| 12 months | Winner | Masters End |
| 2013 | Ted Potter Jr. | CUT |
| 2014 | Ryan Moore | CUT |
| 2015 | Kevin Streelman | T12 |
| 2016 | Jimmy Walker | T29 |
| 2018 | Tom Watson | DNP |
| 2019 | Matt Walace | CUT |
| 2022 | Mackenzie Hughes/Mike Weir | T50/CUT |
| 2023 | Tom Hoge | CUT |
| 2024 | Rickie Fowler | T30 |
Nonetheless, those that choose their glasses half full would possibly say Echavarria now has the possibility to interrupt a curse that stretches again to its creation in 1960.