The PGA Tour season has reached its first landmark as the Masters is set to get started on Thursday at Augusta National for the first major of the season and Tiger Woods is the early favorite after winning three times ahead of the tournament and he has Rory McIlory and Phil Mickelson right behind him chomping at the bit.
Wednesday marks the traditional Par-3 Contest at the Masters, which will air live on ESPN, giving the golfers some entertainment on the day before the major. Padraig Harrington and Jonathan Byrd won the crystal bowl last year in an event that has been tradition at Augusta since back in 1960 when names like Sam Snead and Arnold Palmer were playing.
Snead won the first Par 3 Contest back in 1960 and the course was built in 1958 as a nine hole, par-27 course that is just over 1,000 yards long, making it a fast and exciting course. There have been a number of holes in one on the course, including five that went down in 2002, but the winner of the contest should beware, as so far no player that has won the event has also won the Masters. Many golfers use family and friends as caddies during the tournament and the number two golfer in the world will do just that on Wednesday.
While the number one golfer Tiger Woods does not traditionally play in the event, number two ranked Rory McIlroy will be playing and his girlfriend, tennis star Caroline Wozniacki, will be serving as his caddy for nine holes. McIlroy said in his press conference on Tuesday that his significant other will be with him on the course, continuing a trend for the couple of being at each other's tournaments.
McIlroy was in Miami watching his girlfriend play tennis two weeks ago instead of playing in the Arnold Palmer Invitational, where Tiger Woods won to take back the number one ranking from the Northern Irishman. McIlroy will have one of the most well-known girlfriends of any golfer, but Woods may also have him beat in that category after going public with his relationship with Olympic skier Lindsey Vonn.
Woods will be paired with Luke Donald and Scott Piercy on Thursday for the opening round, while McIlroy will be with Keegan Bradley and Fredrik Jacobson and playing in the afternoon. Phil Mickelson will be playing before McIlroy with Martin Kaymer, while the young star Tianlang Guan, a 14-year-old qualifier, will tee off with Ben Crenshaw at around 12:30 PM ET.
