Canadians share early win at Masters Par 3 Contest
“I'm not that superstitious, but I'm a little stitious.”
That was Mackenzie Hughes after Saturday's round of last year's U.S. Open, quoting the great Michael Scott from The Office. Hopefully, Hughes is not at all “stitious” this year at the Masters, considering the all-canadian tie atop the leaderboard at Wednesday's Par 3 Contest between he and Mike Weir.
No player has ever gone on to win the green jacket the same year they have taken home the short course crown at Augusta National.
“This is a very special day for me,” the Dundas, Ont. native said. “This is my third Masters and my first Par 3 contest. I was really excited to get out here and do this. Very lucky that the weather held off for us.”
For the second day in a row, Augusta National was hit by heavy rain and lightning storms in the run-up to the season's first major, which begins Thursday. There might be serious business ahead, but Hughes and Weir made the most of the Par 3 tradition, which has become quite the family affair.
“My youngest, Cohen, he's 16 months on Monday, so he wanted to get after every ball on the green, heading toward lakes,” Hughes said. “So that was definitely priority No. 1, to keep them on grass, and I did that.”
Hughes and Weir will each take home a Crystal Pedestal Bowl after shooting four-under par to win the 9-hole tournament played on Augusta's Par 3 course.
Weir said that he and playing partner Mark O'meara weren't afraid of the curse considering they both already have green jackets.
“You come out and you want to hit some good shots and get a good feel and leave a good taste in your mouth,” Weir said.
Hughes will begin his Masters on Thursday at 7:39 a.m. CT in a group with Matthew Wolff and Luke List. Weir tees off with Padraig Harrington and amateur Austin Greaser at 6:11 a.m.
Corey Conners is coming off back-to-back top-10 finishes at the Masters, and won't have to worry about any curses after playing just three holes of the Par 3 Contest before it was stopped due to inclement weather. Conners tees off Thursday at 10:13 a.m. in quite a ballstriker's group with Lee Westwood and Russell Henley.
PHIL NOT UNINVITED
Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley cleared up a very interesting question regarding Phil Mickelson's absence from this year's Masters.
“Well, first, I would like to say we did not disinvite Phil,” Ridley said. “Phil is a three-time Masters Champion and is invited in that category and many other categories; he's the defending PGA Champion.”
Mickelson has disappeared from the golf world after it became public — thanks to him — that he was ready to turn his back on the PGA Tour, and was a prominent figure in the planning of a rival league funded by a Saudi government.
“Phil reached out to me, I think it was in late February, early March, and let me know that he did not intend to play,” Ridley said. “That was by way of a text. And I thanked him for his courtesy in letting me know. I told him that we certainly appreciated that and, you know, told him that I was certainly willing to discuss that further with him if he'd like, and he thanked me, and we had a very cordial exchange.”