Moore Wins Par-3 Contest

Ryan Moore isn't afraid to face "the curse" head on after the 31-year-old from Washington State won Wednesday's Par-3 Contest at the Masters. The three-time PGA Tour winner finished the nine-hole funfest at 6-under 21, calling it a "perfect practice day."

Since 1960 when the special event began, no winner of the Par-3 Contest has gone on to win the Masters that same year. Two Par-3 champions - Raymond Floyd in 1990 and Chip Beck in 1993 -finished up as runners-up in the tournament proper, and that's as close as it's gotten.

"I'm not afraid of it," Moore said of the so-called jinx. "You never know. Someone has got to break that curse at some point in time, so hopefully it's me, if I end up winning. Who knows? I might go shoot 8-under or something, make a couple hole-in-ones. We'll see."

Moore's score was a stroke shy of tying the Par-3 record shared by Art Wall (1965) and Gay Brewer (1973).

Former Masters champions Kevin Stadler and Fuzzy Zoeller ended up tied for second at 4-under 23, while two-time green jacket winner Bernhard Langer, Joost Luiten and Victor Dubuisson were another stroke back.

Moore was accompanied by his 18-month-old son, Tucker, who pounded a plastic driver around the course as his father competed. "It was fun having my boy out there and playing a round, you know, playing with a couple of friends," said Moore, a former U.S. Amateur champion.

"That's what it's for, to kind of make you relax a little bit and just go and enjoy yourself the afternoon before."

There were three aces Wednesday, by Mark O'Meara, Stewart Alexander and Matt Jones. That brings the total to 80 hole-in-ones in the history of the event.

Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player comprised the marquee threesome. While Nicklaus and Player shot even-par, Palmer played only five holes. The same trio of golf legends will herald the start of the 2014 Masters Thursday morning by hitting the ceremonial opening tee shots.

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

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