Aaron Rai won the Masters Par 3 Contest on Wednesday with a six-under-par score of 21, taking the small but familiar stage at Augusta National and calling the feeling “phenomenal.” He added that he was “not sure if it’s a good omen or not,” a line that fit a contest built as much on superstition and family as on score.
Rai said his wife, Gaurika, helped by reading his putts, a detail that matched the tone of a day when the course is as crowded with families as it is with players. Gaurika Rai is also a professional golfer, and Rai said that many players enjoy the tournament for “what it means for spending time with the family.”
The Par 3 Contest has been part of Masters week since 1960, and it has long been treated as a warmup played on the eve of the main tournament. Players often take part with partners and children dressed in Augusta caddie boiler suits, and the scene Wednesday again mixed elite golf with a casual pageant that has become one of the week’s most watched traditions.
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Jordan Spieth was among the names tied to that atmosphere, but the day’s spotlight also fell on the next generation. Tommy Fleetwood’s son Frankie was one of the stars of the show, Rory McIlroy spoke about the scale of time in the game, and last year his daughter Poppy made a 30-foot putt during the contest. Gary Player was still playing as he approached 91 later in the year, while Remy Scheffler, just two weeks old, was taken around the course by his mother Meredith in a baby carrier.
That mix of ages and families is part of why the event keeps drawing attention even though no player has ever won the Par 3 Contest and then gone on to win the main Masters title that weekend. Rai’s victory adds another name to the list of Wednesday winners, but the deeper point remains the same: the contest is a soft-edged pause before the pressure turns serious, and the families who fill it are often what people remember most.
