The Masters: Jason Kokrak makes amazing hole-in-one before Par-3 contest abandoned due to storms | Golf News

Former Masters champion Mike Weir and compatriot Mackenize Hughes set the clubhouse target before an approaching thunderstorm saw play halted and the course evacuated at 3.42pm local time (8.42pm BST)

Former Masters champion Mike Weir and compatriot Mackenize Hughes set the clubhouse target before storms saw the Par-3 contest abandoned at Augusta National.

The Canadian pair both posted a four-under 23 in the traditional pre-tournament contest, returning for the first time since 2019 after being cancelled the previous two years due to Covid-19 restrictions.

Weir and Hughes finished a shot ahead of Larry Mize, Cameron Davis and Kevin Na, with Rory McIlroy and Brooks Koepka out on the course when an approaching thunderstorm saw play halted and the course evacuated at 3.42pm local time (8.42pm BST).

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Louis Oosthuizen reads the green to perfection in The Masters Par-3 contest

“This is a very special day for me,” Hughes said. “This is my third Masters and my first Par 3 contest. I was really excited to get out here and do this. To have a family day like this before one of the biggest tournaments of the year is pretty cool.”

Gary Player was inches away from a hole-in-one at the fifth, just before the horn sounded, while Jason Kokrak produced the moment of the day when he posted an unlikely ace on the fourth.

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Gary Player nearly gets his fifth ever hole-in-one in The Masters Par-3 contest

McIlroy, accompanied by young daughter Poppy for the first time, made a chip-in birdie at the first to sit in tied-tenth, with Matt Fitzpatrick also under par with two holes of his round to complete.

Veteran Bernhard Langer and Si Woo Kim both carded a two-under 25, with Thomas Pieters and Joaquin Niemann also on that number with holes to finish, as world No 2 Jon Rahm gave son Kepa his first experience of the Par-3 contest.

“It’s a lot of fun,” Rahm said. “It’s really cool they let us do this with the family, and it’s a very nice event to have before starting The Masters.”

Since the event was introduced in 1960, no player has ever won the Par-3 contest and then gone on to win the Green Jacket in the same week.

Watch The Masters throughout the week exclusively live on Sky Sports. Live coverage begins on Thursday from 2pm on Sky Sports Golf, with additional feeds and bonus action during all four rounds available via the red button.