Greatest golfers of all time steal the show at the Masters Par 3 Contest

Post by Sports Writer Derek Clements

IT'S the tournament within a tournament that nobody wants to win.  The Par 3 contest on the eve of The Masters is a fun event played on Augusta's beautiful nine-hole course -  and nobody who has won it has ever gone on to pick up the Green Jacket on the Sunday.

It is a fun event, during which players' wives and girlfriends, sons and daughters carry their clubs and their children join in the fun by hitting shots too. Rory McIlroy had Niall, from One Direction, carrying his clubs in a move that just might have been designed to get some youngsters turned onto the game.

MT @TigerWoods I'll always have memories of my pop at Augusta, now Sam & Charlie. Amazing day. http://t.co/9VhsL9sniP pic.twitter.com/aJBhvqZnMq

— AP Sports (@AP_Sports) April 9, 2015

Jack Nicklaus played with Gary Player and Ben Crenshaw - between them they have played in The Masters around 140 times. Sitting behind them, on the first tee was The King, Arnold Palmer, unable to play because of a shoulder injury. But nothing will stop him from taking his place alongside Nicklaus and Player as an honorary starter before the real action gets under way.

The patrons turned out in their thousands to watch the Par 3 tournament and they were treated to a very rare sight indeed. Tiger Woods had never played in the event but the 14-time major champion is on a charm offensive this week and played happily with his two children, Sam and Charlie, along for the ride with his girlfriend, Lindsey Vonn.

Camillo Villegas had two holes-in-one on his way to a five-under par 22 and tied with Kevin Streelman

Unbelievably, Nicklaus also had a hole-in-one, attracting the biggest cheer of the day. And Nick Faldo showed there is still life in the old dog by knocking it round in 24. Woods actually played pretty well, but made sure he couldn't win by getting his boy to take one of his putts. Otherwise, he would have scored 24. Maybe his talk of being here to win is actually realistic. Or maybe not.

Nicklaus records a hole in one

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3XOAHAC5g8

Among other highlights was Ian Poulter's son, with a swing that looked every bit as good as Dad's, hitting his hit tee-shot at the ninth into the water and promptly blaming Poulter Sr for giving him the wrong club. Patrick Reed was another to ensure the curse didn't affect his chances by picking up his ball after seven holes.

And so it begins, but just don't put any money on Streelman or Villegas!