The Masters Par 3 Contest: History & Winners

The Masters Par 3 Contest is the loose, family-run Wednesday exhibition played on Augusta National's nine-hole, par-27 course, and it comes with the strangest curse in golf: since it began in 1960, no winner has gone on to win the actual Masters that same week. Sixty-plus playings in, the streak is still alive — Aaron Rai won the 2026 contest and finished 48th at the real tournament four days later.

Key Takeaways

• No Par 3 Contest winner has ever won the Masters in the same year — a streak that's held since the event started in 1960.
• Padraig Harrington has the most Par 3 wins with three (2003, 2004, 2012).
• The closest anyone's come to breaking the curse is a runner-up finish at the Masters — Raymond Floyd (1990) and Chip Beck (1993) both did it.
• Jimmy Walker holds the Par 3 scoring record at 19 (8-under), set in 2016, the same day nine holes-in-one went in.
• The contest wasn't played in 2020 or 2021 because of COVID-19 restrictions, and Aaron Rai is the most recent winner, taking the 2026 title.

What Is the Masters Par 3 Contest?

It's a nine-hole scramble-free exhibition on Augusta National's own par-27 course, tucked into the northwest corner of the property around DeSoto Springs Pond and Ike's Pond. Designed by George Cobb with Clifford Roberts, it opened in 1958 and hosted its first contest in 1960, won by Sam Snead. Every Masters starter, plus past champions who aren't otherwise playing that year, is eligible. It's short — 1,090 yards for all nine holes combined — so a bad shot barely costs anyone anything, and that's the whole point.

Roberts pitched it as a pre-tournament attraction; some club members reportedly thought it looked too much like mini-golf to belong at Augusta. They lost that argument fast. By 1961, the New York Times was already calling it a fixture, and it's since become the one afternoon at the Masters where players show up in street clothes with their kids on the bag instead of their regular caddie.

Why Is There a "Par 3 Curse"?

Because it's true, plainly and repeatedly: nobody who has won the Par 3 Contest has won the Masters that same week. Not once, across every playing since 1960. It's not a rule or a superstition anyone invented after the fact — it's just an observed pattern that's held long enough to become a running joke among players, and a talking point every single Wednesday broadcast leans on.

The nearest anyone's gotten: Raymond Floyd won the 1990 Par 3 Contest, then lost the Masters itself in a sudden-death playoff to Nick Faldo. Chip Beck won the Par 3 in 1993 and finished runner-up to Bernhard Langer that Sunday. Second place is as close as the curse has ever come to breaking. Two players have won the Masters at some point in their careers after having won a Par 3 Contest in a different year — Ben Crenshaw and Vijay Singh — but never the same season.

Because the pattern is so well known now, plenty of contenders treat the Wednesday round as pure theater: they let a spouse or a kid hit their tee shots instead of playing it straight, half out of superstition and half because it's a better photo.

Who Has Won the Most Par 3 Contests?

Padraig Harrington, with three: 2003, 2004, and 2012. He and Sandy Lyle (1997, 1998) are the only players to win back-to-back years. Tom Watson is the other repeat winner worth knowing — he won in 1982, then again in 2018 at age 68, a 36-year gap that also makes him the oldest Par 3 champion on record. Mike Weir became the oldest first-time winner when he shared the 2022 title at 51.

Recent Winners

• 2026 — Aaron Rai, -6
• 2025 — Nico Echavarria, beat J.J. Spaun in a playoff at -5
• 2024 — Rickie Fowler, -5 (22)
• 2023 — Tom Hoge, -6, with an ace on No. 8
• 2022 — Three-way tie: Mike Weir, Mackenzie Hughes, and Kevin Na, -4, contest cut short by weather
• 2020–2021 — Not played (COVID-19 protocols)
• 2019 — Matt Wallace
• 2018 — Tom Watson
• 2016 — Jimmy Walker, 19 (-8), the all-time scoring record

What's the Course Record and Biggest Ace Day?

Jimmy Walker's 19 (8-under par) in 2016 is still the mark, breaking a record of 20 that had stood since 1965. He did it with six birdies and a hole-in-one, and beat Keegan Bradley and Craig Stadler by three shots. That same afternoon produced nine holes-in-one across the field — a single-day record for the event. Gary Player has the most career aces at the Par 3, four of them, including one at age 80 in 2016 that made him the oldest player to ace the course.

What's the Deal with the Family Caddies?

It's the signature image of the day: players' kids, in miniature white Augusta jumpsuits, hauling a bag that's nearly as tall as they are, occasionally taking a real swing at a real shot in front of a real Masters gallery. Wives and girlfriends caddie too. It's become such a fixture that a couple of the Masters' most-watched social clips ever are Par 3 moments involving players' children — Rory McIlroy's daughter's putt in 2025 reportedly out-viewed his green jacket win from the very same week. The whole afternoon reads less like competitive golf and more like a company picnic that happens to be held on the most famous grass in the sport.

Sources

• Masters Tournament Par 3 Contest — Wikipedia
• About the Par 3 Contest — Masters.com
• Jimmy Walker sets a Par 3 Contest record — CBS Sports
• Aaron Rai looks to break Masters Par 3 curse — Forbes

For the full list of every Masters champion, see every Masters winner and the records that go with it. New to major-championship terminology? Start with the four golf majors explained or brush up on what par actually means.