Hole in one just for Pa

THE young bucks may have been upstaged by an old- timer at the Masters traditional Par 3 event but it was the grandson of a gun who stole the show.

Tom Watson, the 68- yearold two- time Masters champ, turned back the clock in the family- friendly finale to Au- gusta preparations by shooting six- under on the nine hole layout to win by a shot.

But it was a hole in one from six- time Masters winner Jack Nicklaus’s son, Gary Jr, which brought down the house.

The younger Nicklaus was carrying his grandad’s bag but, as is tradition, the clubs were handed to him for a last- hole go. And he nailed his wedge over the water, spinning it back for his first ace ever.

“I hit five or six balls on the range beforehand just to see if I could swing,” Nicklaus junior said. “I mean, I didn’t even want to believe it went in. I couldn’t even imagine doing that. But I couldn’t think of a more special place to do it.”

It meant a lot to his grandfather, too, who ranked it high in his special moments list.

“That’s pretty special. that’s No. 1,” he said.

“My wins, that’s OK, but to have your grandson make a hole in one and watch him do it, man, that’s amazing.”

No player has ever won the Par 3 contest and gone on to win the Masters in the same year, but Watson wasn’t thinking he could win another green jacket anyway.

“The big course is too big for old folks like me. I can’t hit it far enough,” he said.

South African Dylan Fritelli, playing in his first Masters, also scored a hole in one in the Par 3 contest, and said he’d never experienced a buzz like it. “It doesn’t even compare to rugby games or cricket matches or even I mean, Texas football games are big, but it’s different,” he said. “It’s pretty cool to be a part of.”

Aussies Marc Leishman and Cameron Smith played, but Jason Day and Adam Scott were among the absentees.