The curse at the Masters: This is why nobody wants to win the Par 3 Contest

No Par-3 Contest winner has ever captured the green jacket in the same year, thus the tradition of a Masters curse.

Vijay Singh, however, won the Par 3 Contest in 1994 and went on to win the Masters in 2000. Other players have won the Masters first and then won the Par 3 Contest, such as Arnold Palmer, who won the Masters in 1958, 1960, 1962 and 1964 and then won the Par 3 Contest in 1967.

Tom Watson did the same thing by winning the Masters in 1977 and 1981 and later winning the Par 3 Contest in 1982 and 2018.

But, the curse is no joke. Nobody has won the Par 3 Contest and then gone on to win the Masters in the same year. Nobody. Ben Crenshaw is another interesting case: He won the Masters in 1984, the Par 3 Contest in 1987 and then his second Masters in 1995.

The only other professional athletes who are possibly as superstitious as golfers are baseball players and like Crash Davis says in ‘Bull Durham:’ “A player on a streak, has to respect the streak.” Wise words from Kevin Costner’s character.

The last time a golf player got close to winning the Par 3 contest and the Masters at Augusta was back in 1990. Raymond Floyd recorded his only Par 3 victory and was on his way to breaking the curse Sunday afternoon. Following a birdie on No. 12, the 47-year-old was four strokes clear of Nick Faldo with six holes to play. Faldo, however, ended up slipping into a Green Jacket in a playoff for a second consecutive year.