Potter Wins Par 3 Contest


Ted Potter Jr. won the Masters Tournament's Par 3 Contest Wednesday after tying four others at 4-under 23 following nine holes. The 29-year-old Floridian birdied the second sudden-death playoff hole to beat Phil Mickelson and Matt Kuchar.

Ernie Els and Nick Watney also finished at 4-under, but didn't opt to continue on in the playoff.

Mickelson fell out of the playoff after a par on the first playoff hole, where Potter sank a 40-foot birdie putt to extend the overtime session with Kuchar. Potter, a one-time winner on the PGA Tour with his victory coming in the 2012 Greenbrier Classic, birdied the second hole for the win after Kuchar missed his 15-footer to tie.

Potter has an uphill battle when the tournament proper begins Thursday; no player has ever won the Masters the same year they won the Par 3 Contest.

Holes-in-one were recorded Wednesday by Watney on the ninth hole and two-time Masters champion Ben Crenshaw on the seventh. Crenshaw carded an even-par 27.

The lead group was Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, and Gary Player, who will return to the regulation course at Augusta National Thursday morning and serve as the honorary starters.

For all the scores in the Par 3 Contests, visit http://www.masters.com/en_US/scores/par3contest/index.html.