Gary Woodland sinks hole-in-one during Masters Par 3 contest

The Masters Par 3 Contest, first held in 1960, is a nine-hole exhibition where the player with the most favorable score against par is crowned the winner. No winner of the Masters Par 3 Contest has gone on to win that year’s tournament. Jimmy Walker holds the contest record of 8-under par in 2016. Padraig Harrington has won the event a record three times.

Gary Woodland set for 12th career start in the Masters

Woodland, meanwhile, is set to make his 12th start in the Masters. He finished a career high T14 in last year’s Masters, which was won by Jon Rahm. Woodland, the 2019 U.S. Open champion, is making his first start in a major since undergoing surgery this past September to remove a lesion on his brain. He returned to action just four months later at the Sony Open in Hawaii.

“This came out of nowhere for me, but I’m not going to let it stop me,” Woodland said in January. “I don’t want this to be a bump in the road for me. I want it to be a jump start in my career … At the end of the day, I’m here because I believe this is what I’ve been born to do, play great golf. I want to do that again. It’s been a while. Been a couple of years.

“Nothing is going to stop me. I believe that.”

Though Woodland isn’t one of the favorites to win with +19000 odds, he remains focused on getting back to his previous level of play.

“I plan on being competitive very quickly,” Woodland said at the Sony Open “Like I said, physically I can hit any shot I want. That’s not going to be the problem. I am looking forward to being back and where I’m at and expecting to be ready very soon.”