It took a while for the fireworks to ignite at Wednesday’s Masters Par-3 Contest, but the fun and light-hearted afternoon event quickly turned electric thanks to the tournament’s defending champion.
But before we get to Scottie Scheffler, Seamus Power broke the contest’s hole-in-one drought about two hours in when he sucked one back into the cup on the 8th.
What did the Irishman and two-time PGA Tour winner do on his next swing? The exact same result on No. 9, becoming just the third player to make back-to-back aces in the contest.
Back-to-back holes in one! Seamus Power taps into Irish luck at the Par 3 Contest. #themasters pic.twitter.com/dfO5T7yOsJ
— The Masters (@TheMasters) April 5, 2023
This is where things go off the rails and the World No. 1 comes into the picture. Power’s group took some time to walk around Ike’s pond to access the green and the following group of Scheffler, Tom Kim and Sam Burns came to the 9th tee.
The trio of 20-somethings did what most young golfers would do in this situation of a hit-and-giggle, deciding to all hit their tee shots at once.
Even with Burns being just a bit quick on the trigger, all three balls were in the air at the same time, making it hard to discern whose went where.
One came up short, one hit the flag and the other hit on the green and spun back below the flag. The last ball spun back to where the cameras showed two other balls already on the fringe.
Unbeknownst to the ESPN+ broadcast crew, Power’s group had yet to reach the green and two of the balls below the cup belonged to them. However, ESPN+ broadcaster Sean McDonough believed one of the balls belonged to Scheffler, which was further evidenced when Power pulled his earlier ball out of the cup.
But then Scheffler reached the green and pulled a second ball out of the cup.
“And now, it’s Scottie Scheffler that says ‘That is my ball!'” McDonough said.
After a closer look from a different camera angle, it was discovered the shot that hit the stick did in fact go in the hole for the fourth hole-in-one in just the past 30 minutes. Bubba Watson made one moments earlier on the 4th hole.
When ESPN’s Michael Collins asked the golfers whose ball was the one that hit the stick, both Kim and Burns quickly claimed it was theirs.
“I thought golf was supposed to be a gentleman’s game,” Scheffler joked in response.
He later claimed ignorant bliss after finishing on 9, simply saying the ball he left the green with was his.
The annual tradition is more about fun than score, as some pros outright claim they won’t try to win it. The superstition stems from the fact that no player has ever won the Par-3 Contest and then won the green jacket in the same week.
Therefore, many contestants allow their caddie(s), usually their significant others or children, to hit some shots, which ultimately disqualifies them from posting a score. Scheffler had his wife Meredith hit several shots throughout the afternoon, making his overall total “No Score.”
