The Masters Tournament Par3 Contest is a semi-social golf competition that precedes the Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. The first Par3 Contest was held before the 1960 tournament, and was won by three-time Masters champion Sam Snead. The contest takes place in a single round on a nine-hole, par-27 course in the northeast corner of the club's grounds, designed in 1958 by George Cobb and club founder Clifford Roberts.

Traditionally, the participants have invited family members to caddie for them, sometimes allowing them to play shots on their behalf. Through the 2026 contest, 119 holes in one have been recorded, including nine in the 2016 event.

Snead became the contest's first multiple winner in 1974, fourteen years after his first. The most recent is Tom Watson, who won his second Par3 Contest in 2018, 36 years after his first in 1982. Pádraig Harrington is the only one with three wins; he won his first pair in consecutive years (2003, 2004), as did Sandy Lyle (1997, 1998). Seven players have multiple wins; the other three are Isao Aoki, Jay Haas, and David Toms.

Jimmy Walker holds the course record of 19(–8), set in 2016, which included an ace.

As of 2026[update], the contest has been decided by a playoff on 22occasions, and concluded with a tie three times; overall, across 64contests, 17 of the 59winning golfers (including ties) have been non-American. No winner of the Par3 Contest has gone on to win the Masters in the same year.

Winners

Sam Snead (pictured in 1967) won the inaugural contest in 1960, and again in 1974
Vijay Singh (pictured in 2007) won in 1994
Sandy Lyle (pictured in 2006) won consecutive contests in 1997 and 1998
Pádraig Harrington (pictured in 2007) has three contest victories; two shared and one playoff win
YearWinnerCountryTo par[a]Masters finishRef.
1960Sam SneadUnited States−4T11
1961Deane Beman (a)United States−5CUT
1962Bruce CramptonAustralia−5T29
1963*George BayerUnited States−4T28
1964Labron Harris Jr. (a)United States−443
1965Art Wall Jr.United States−7T45
1966Terry DillUnited States−5T17
1967*Arnold PalmerUnited States−44
1968Bob RosburgUnited States−5T29
1969*Bob LunnUnited States−4CUT
1970Harold HenningSouth Africa−6CUT
1971*Dave StocktonUnited States−4T9
1972Steve MelnykUnited States−4T12
1973Gay BrewerUnited States−7T10
1974*Sam Snead (2)United States−5T20
1975*Isao AokiJapan−4CUT
1976Jay Haas (a)United States−6CUT
1977*Tom WeiskopfUnited States−4T14
1978*Lou GrahamUnited States−5CUT
1979Joe InmanUnited States−5T23
1980Johnny MillerUnited States−5T38
1981Isao Aoki (2)Japan−5T45
1982*Tom WatsonUnited States−4T5
1983Hale IrwinUnited States−5T6
1984Tommy AaronUnited States−5CUT
1985Hubert GreenUnited States−5CUT
1986*Gary KochUnited States−4T16
1987Ben CrenshawUnited States−5T4
1988Tsuneyuki NakajimaJapan−3T33
1989*Bob GilderUnited States−539
1990Raymond FloydUnited States−42
1991*Rocco MediateUnited States−3T22
1992Davis Love IIIUnited States−5T25
1993Chip BeckUnited States−62
1994Vijay SinghFiji−5T27
1995*Hal SuttonUnited States−4CUT
1996*Jay Haas (2)United States−5T36
1997*Sandy LyleScotland−5T34
1998Sandy Lyle (2)Scotland−3CUT
1999Joe DurantUnited States−5CUT
2000*Chris PerryUnited States−4T14
2001David TomsUnited States−5T31
2002*Nick PriceZimbabwe−5T20
2003†Pádraig HarringtonIreland−6CUT
David Toms (2)United StatesT8
2004*Pádraig Harrington (2)Ireland−4T13
2005Jerry PateUnited States−5DNP
2006Ben CraneUnited States−4CUT
2007Mark O'MearaUnited States−5CUT
2008Rory SabbatiniSouth Africa−5CUT
2009Tim ClarkSouth Africa−5T13
2010Louis OosthuizenSouth Africa−6CUT
2011Luke DonaldEngland−5T4
2012†Jonathan ByrdUnited States−5T27
Pádraig Harrington (3)IrelandT8
2013*Ted Potter Jr.United States−4CUT
2014Ryan MooreUnited States−6CUT
2015*Kevin StreelmanUnited States−5T12
2016Jimmy WalkerUnited States−8T29
2017Contest canceled due to rain
2018Tom Watson (2)United States−6DNP
2019*Matt WallaceEngland−5CUT
2020Contest canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021
2022†Mackenzie HughesCanada−4T50
Mike WeirCUT
2023Tom HogeUnited States−6CUT
2024Rickie FowlerUnited States−5T30
2025*Nico EchavarríaColombia−551
2026Aaron RaiEngland−648

Key

* - playoff

† - tie

(a) - amateur

Masters champions who also won a Par 3 Contest

Arnold Palmer (pictured in 2009) won the Par3 Contest in 1967 having won the Masters four times between 1958 and 1964.
WinnerPar3 winsMasters wins
Sam Snead1960, 19741949, 1952, 1954
Art Wall Jr.19651959
Arnold Palmer19671958, 1960, 1962, 1964
Gay Brewer19731967
Tom Watson1982, 20181977, 1981
Tommy Aaron19841973
Ben Crenshaw19871984, 1995
Raymond Floyd19901976
Vijay Singh19942000
Sandy Lyle1997, 19981988
Mark O'Meara20071998
Mike Weir20222003
  • No player has won the Par3 Contest and the Masters in the same year, a fact well known by the players. Raymond Floyd came the closest in the 1990 tournament, but lost in a sudden-death playoff.
  • Ben Crenshaw and Vijay Singh are the only players to win a Masters after winning a Par3 Contest.
  • Tom Watson is the only player to hold both titles at once, for four days, winning the Par3 Contest in 1982 as defending Masters champion.

Notes

  • a Par is a predetermined number of strokes that a golfer should require to complete a hole, a round (the sum of the total pars of the played holes), or a tournament (the sum of the total pars of each round). E stands for even, which means the round was completed in the predetermined number of strokes.

External links

  • April 22, 2016, at the Wayback Machine – The Masters Par-3 Contest winners

33°30′11″N 82°01′05″W/33.503°N 82.018°W/ 33.503; -82.018