Tom Hoge is a winner at Augusta National Golf Club. While the green jacket does not get handed out in Butler Cabin on Wednesday, Hoge prevailed in the 61st edition of the Par 3 Contest. It was the first time the event was played to its completion since 2019 as the COVID-19 pandemic and weather led to cancellations the last three years.
The North Dakotan signed for a 6-under 21 on the newly renovated Par 3 Course to get the better of Bubba Watson and Kurt Kitayama by one. Si Woo Kim, Freddie Couples and Ryan Fox were also within a few strokes.
Hoge’s scorecard consisted of four 3s, four 2s and a hole-in-one on No. 8. The 33-year-old became just the seventh player to win the Par 3 Contest while also having an ace in his round, joining Tom Watson, Jay Haas and Davis Toms, among others.
The good news for Hoge is he can now claim he won at Augusta National. The bad news? Since the first playing of the Par 3 Contest in 1960, no player has won this competition and the Masters the same year. After finishing T39 in his Masters debut a season ago, Hoge will now try to break a 60+ year curse.
“Just go out and try and play well,” Hoge said of his expectations for the Masters. “We have some crazy weather here forecast, so not really sure what to expect in that regard, but I guess good start here to the week today, so try to keep that going.”
Watch all four rounds of the 2023 Masters starting Thursday with Masters Live as we follow the best golfers in the world throughout Augusta National with Featured Groups, check in at the famed Amen Corner and see leaders round the turn on holes 15 & 16. Watch live on CBSSports.com, the CBS Sports App and Paramount+.
Aces are wild
One ace is great, two is fantastic, but what about back-to-back holes-in-one? That’s what Seamus Power accomplished Wednesday as he played Nos. 8-9 in just two strokes. The Irishman became just the third man in Par 3 history to go back-to-back and was so accustomed to making aces by the time he walked off the course that he actually left his golf ball in the bottom of the cup.
“It’s a dream come true,” said Power. “Obviously to get one was special but to get the second one was a bit surreal. It was an absolute blast out there.”
Let’s do it live
This was a sneaky fun group to keep follow: Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns have been good friends for a while and welcomed Dallas resident Tom Kim into their circle. Kim was needling the world No. 1 throughout the day, often times teaming up with Scheffler’s wife, but Scottie got the last laugh when he walked off with a slam dunk ace when all three players teed off simultaneously.
“That was pretty fun,” said Scheffler. “We were trying to make one all day. That was just, I guess, the slam dunk at the end was definitely very fun. The guys were pretty focused watching their shots, and they didn’t quite see it go in. They just heard the noise, and I was like, yeah, that went in. That was mine.”
A different big three
Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas and Max Homa were mic’d up for their nine holes on the Par 3 Course. The needling began before anyone struck a shot as Homa voiced his excitement about seeing Sammy (Spieth’s son) and Thomas (the lone member without a child) run around together. Thomas complained about Sammy talking in his backswing and even brought a couple friends inside the ropes to take a few swipes on the greens. The three were great, but the star may have been little Spieth.