Will the Masters Par 3 Contest Curse be Broken After 63 Years?

Tom Hoge, now the winner of the 2023 Masters Par 3 Contest, will look to make Master’s History. The inaugural par 3 contest was played in 1960, and still to this day, nobody has accomplished winning it and the green jacket. It’s about to be a 63-year drought that has yet to be broken. Will we see Tom Hoge snap the curse?

Let’s see what the players think about the “curse.”

Quite the memory to kick off Masters week, hopefully there will be more throughout the weekend! pic.twitter.com/i0YXGB7jRm

— Tom Hoge Tracker (@HogeTracker) April 5, 2023

Tom Hoge seems to be unfazed by the whole phenomenon surrounding this superstition as he had this to say:

“[I will still] go out and try to play well. We have some crazy weather here forecast [this week], so not really sure what to expect in that regard, but I guess good start to the week today, so try to keep that going.”

Here’s what former and current players had to say about the so-called curse:

Tony Finau: “I participate because I love having my wife and kids out there, but I will never try to win it. Let’s not try to test the waters.”

Zach Johnson: “I don’t buy into it. Crystal is crystal.”

Colin Morikawa: “It doesn’t deter me. I’d love to win it. Why not? It’s got to happen at some point.” 

Jack Nicklaus: “No. I don’t tank.”

Jon Rahm: “I kind of believe in it because nobody has done it. I don’t go out there trying to win. I try to make a hole in one and be as aggressive as possible. I let my wife hit putts and in the future I’m sure my kids will be putting.”

Jordan Spieth: “It’s really hard to win so if you do I’d just take confidence off of hitting good wedges and making putts. I think it would be great to win it.”

Gary Player: “Absolutely not. The Par 3 Contest is for the fans who make the Masters so very special. I feel it’s our duty as participants to play in the Par 3 and interact with them in a more lighthearted way than we do when playing in the actual tournament. I took and still take pride in playing well in the Par 3. They give prizes for closest to the pin and I always want to win those.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

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As other players were asked, it seems like it really is a coin flip between all if they really believe in it. The closest player to pull off this feat was Raymond Floyd. He nearly pulled it off against Nick Faldo, as they had to have a playoff to determine the winner. However, Faldo was victorious.

The only other runner-up finish to match Floyd’s feat was Chip Beck three years later, but he finished 4 shots behind winner Bernhard Langer.

Cover Image Via Twitter