AUGUSTA, Ga. — Luke Donald apparently isn’t too worried about the par-3 tournament curse.
In the tournament’s history, no player has won the par-3 tournament and the Masters tournament in the same year. But Donald sprinted to a 5-under-par 22 on Wednesday and then held on to win by one shot. Donald is playing in his seventh Masters tournament, with his best finish a tie for third in his first appearance.
Raymond Floyd and Angel Cabrera finished tied for second at 4-under while four players finished at 3-under.
“Some short shots that you hit out here are similar to the course, so that’s why I play some years,” Donald said. “I think it’s good preparation. If you’re hitting wedges close, it’s only a good thing.”
Martin Kaymer, the No. 1 ranked player in the world, said Donald is the player to watch this week.
“It’s a big compliment coming from the world’s best ranked player right now,” Donald said. “So you feed off comments like that. I think when your peers are speaking highly about something, you can feed off it and make yourself believe that you’re better than you might even think you are.”
Donald is ranked fourth in the world entering this week. He could leave Augusta National Golf Club as the top-ranked player in the world if he wins this week.
He tees off today at 10:53 a.m. with Fred Couples and Steve Stricker.
“The game is fine,” Donald said. “I’ve been preparing well. I feel coming into this week like I’m playing as good as I’ve been coming into this tournament. So I have some good results behind me the last few weeks, and I’m looking forward to it.”
Having fun.
Ryder Cup teammates Bubba Watson and Rickie Fowler messed around with each other during the par-3 tournament.
Playing one group ahead of Fowler, Watson stood at the first hole and held the flag, jokingly taunting Fowler to hit him with his tee shot.
Fowler said he tried to hit Watson but missed.
Watson did the same thing on the final hole of the day, standing near the cup and holding the flag. The second time, Fowler landed his ball past the hole and nearly rolled it back in for a hole-in-one.
“I was trying to make it (on No. 9),” Fowler said. “But Bubba gave me a bad read.”
Fowler shot 3-under, finishing two shots back of Donald.
Featured pairings
Here are a few of the marquee pairings for today’s first round of the Masters. All times are Mountain. A-amateur:
8:19 a.m. — Martin Kaymer, Lee Westwood, Matt Kuchar
8:41 a.m. — Tiger Woods, Graeme McDowell, Robert Allenby
11:48 a.m. — Phil Mickelson, Geoff Ogilvy, a-Peter Uihlein
