If history holds true, one golfer in the field of 93 already has no chance to win the 77th Masters, even before the ceremonial tee shots are taken Thursday morning at Augusta National.
Five golfers each shot 4 under par to reach a playoff in Wednesday’s nine-hole Par-3 contest, including three-time Masters champ Phil Mickelson, reigning British Open champ Ernie Els, 2013 WGC Match Play champion Matt Kuchar, Masters rookie Ted Potter Jr. and Nick Watney. Potter then won in a two-hole playoff with two birdies.
The history that Potter will be fighting is a supposed hex on the Masters Par-3 winner. No Wednesday winner has gone on to win the green jacket that is awarded to the Masters champ.
When Watney made a hole-in-one on his 9th hole earlier in the afternoon, he said bravely: “Curses are made to be broken. Hey, if (winning) happens, the Red Sox won …”
As he came to the ninth hole, Bo Van Pelt had birdied the first four holes and was leading at 5 under, but chose to have daughter Olivia putt — and miss — and it saved him from turning in his scorecard.
The closest anyone has come to winning both the Par-3 and the Masters was Raymond Floyd in 1990 and Chip Beck in 1993; both were runners-up.
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