England's Wallace risks Masters curse with Par-3 victory
Wallace defeated Sandy Lyle in a playoff to win Wednesday's Par-3 Contest on the eve of the Masters.
AUGUSTA (AFP) - England s Matt Wallace defeated Scotland s Sandy Lyle in a playoff to win Wednesday s Par-3 Contest on the eve of the Masters and risk the winner s curse at Augusta National.
Wallace, a Masters debutante who turns 29 on Friday, also achieved a Masters milestone with the 100th all-time hole-in-one in Par-3 Contest history, which dates to 1960.
Now the world number 36 wants to erase the Par-3 curse, with no Par-3 Contest winner having ever won the Masters the same week, and become the first player to win his Masters debut since Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979.
"Guess I just I wanted to win this," Wallace said. "I want to break history somewhat."
Wallace kept Lyle, the 1998 and 1999 Par-3 winner, from matching the record three contest titles held by Ireland s Padraig Harrington.
Playing in the final group, Wallace aced the 120-yard eighth hole for the day s fourth hole-in-one, then parred the ninth hole to match 61-year-old Lyle, the 1988 Masters winner, on five-under 22, and won the playoff with a birdie.
The light-hearted event saw children and families and friends serve as caddies in a relaxing affair before the showdown begins Thursday morning on Augusta National s par-72 layout.
Thai LPGA sisters Ariya and Moriya Jutanugarn served as caddies for compatriot Kiradech Aphibarnrat. Former world number one Ariya is ranked third in the world.
American Mark O Meara, the 1998 Masters champion, aced the 130-yard fifth hole alongside two Masters favorites, Americans Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka.
"I hit a 9-iron and Brooks was like, Wow, that looks pretty good and I m like, Yeah, whatever, " O Meara said. "It hits about literally three inches behind the hole and must have came back just a little bit and went in the hole. So that was exciting."
Ireland s Shane Lowry had a hole-in-one at the 74-yard second.
"It was special because my wife and baby were with me," Lowry said. "I just wanted to make a one here so it was cool."
Last year s US Amateur runner-up, 19-year-old UCLA sophomore Devon Bling, aced the 115-yard seventh.
"Hit a great shot, it went in, and, yeah, that s the best thing that s ever happened in the world," Bling said.
American Tony Finau returned to the Par-3 Contest s seventh hole, where he celebrated an ace with a jump and dislocated his left ankle on the landing.
Finau donned a specially made high-top golf sneaker on the seventh tee to the crowd s delight, saying later he couldn t skip the event and deny his family the chance to be there with him.
Finau went on to share 10th in last year s Masters despite the mishap and later was fifth at the US Open and shared ninth at the British Open.
"A little bit of disaster. A little bit of embarassment," Finau said. "But what happened after that was amazing. I turned a negative into a positive, which is a good thing."
