Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus: Two legends of the game

Jack Nicklaus' grandson steals the show with a hole-in-one as legendary Tom Watson wins the Masters par-three contest

Golf

Wed April 04, 2018 · 8y ago

Tom Watson became the oldest winner of the Masters par-three contest on Wednesday but it was Jack Nicklaus' grandson who brought the house down with an incredible hole-in-one.

Watson, 68, finished six under par in the nine-hole event to finish a shot ahead of Tommy Fleetwood, who partners Tiger Woods and Marc Leishman in the first two rounds of the tournament proper and will possibly be pleased to have escaped the "curse".

Since the contest started in 1960, nobody has ever become par-three and Masters champion in the same week.

Playing alongside Watson and Gary Player, the 78-year-old Jack Nicklaus finished just a shot further back and amazingly saw his grandson and caddie Gary (known as GT) make a hole-in-one on the ninth.

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Watch Jack Nicklaus' grandson, Gary, ace the final hole of the 2018 Par 3 Contest. #themasters pic.twitter.com/pk2FTqprwv
— Masters Tournament (@TheMasters) April 4, 2018

Watson, who lost a play-off for the 2009 Open Championship at the age of 59, told ESPN: "I won it one other time a long time ago and of course I didn't win the tournament that year, but since I'm not playing the tournament I said 'Let's go for it this year.'"

A tearful Nicklaus, who won 18 majors during his career, rated his grandson's ace the number one moment of his career.

He said: "What I did doesn't make any difference to me. But watching your grandson do something special, I have a few tears.

"We talked about three days ago and said 'GT do you want to hit the ball on nine?' and he said 'sure'. I said, 'well I think you're going to make a hole-in-one'. It's his first.

"You always want the best for your kids and your grandkids and to watch a grandkid come along and knock in a hole-in-one on the biggest venue in the world.... wow. I mean what a day."

GT Nicklaus added: "This is probably my favourite week of the year and this is a special tournament, golf is a sport that I love and for that to happen is just unbelievable."

Meanwhile Tony Finau's Masters debut is in jeopardy after he suffered a sickening injury during the par-three contest.

Finau was running backwards in an enthusiastic celebration of a hole-in-one on the seventh when his left ankle buckled underneath him.

The 28-year-old American then seemed to pop his ankle back into place and carried on, but declined to speak to reporters after leaving the ninth green.

Finau is due to begin his first round at 1243 (1743 BST) on Thursday.

✅ Hole in one in front of your family at Augusta.
✅ Celebrate wildly!
✅ Dislocate ankle
✅ Nonchalantly pop ankle back in.

🤢pic.twitter.com/hUHGrY3nkX
— Sporting Life (@SportingLife) April 4, 2018