The Par 3 Tournament started off the Masters on Wednesday, but the true golf will begin on Thursday morning as the first round starts at eight in the morning with a number of big name golfers, including Tiger Woods and defending champion Bubba Watson.
Woods is looking to win his fifth Masters and his 15th major, while Watson is looking to repeat after his amazing performance last season and the two will get things started on Tuesday night with the Champions Dinner that has past tournament winners in a special tradition. Watson may have some good fortune as he tries to match Tiger Woods and repeat as champion, as he hit a hole in one on the 16th during a practice round on Wednesday.
According to ESPN.com, Watson used one of his nine-irons and made the par-3 hole from 160 yards out to get a hole in one. Watson likely will not repeat the feat during the Masters, although Bo Van Pelt and Adam Scott did it last year on the hole and it could be a good luck charm as he defends his title. Watson is trying to do what only Woods, Nick Faldo and Jack Nicklaus have done by repeating and it would be an amazing story if he could pull it off.
Rory McIlroy will try to get his year back on track and he has some momentum heading in after finishing second at the Texas Open last weekend. After missing the cut at one tournament and walking off another, McIlroy slipped from number one to number two in the world after Woods won at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and now needs to play well at Augusta to keep up.
His play so far this year has been a far cry from what McIlroy did in 2012, as he had five finishes in the top three before the Masters and this season he doesn't have one. Woods has looked like his old self on Tour ahead of McIlroy and has won three times ahead of the Masters and six over the past 13 months, more than anyone else on tour.
Woods is still looking for his 15th major after winning the US Open in 2008 in a playoff and if he wins he will keep Mickelson from tying him and Arnold Palmer with four Masters titles. Adam Scott will have some attention as well after he had the chance to win two different majors over last year, including his collapse at the British Open. The Australian said his tough results have made him stronger and he will try to prove that on Thursday.
The past 16 majors have been won by 15 different players and the past five Masters winners have just three wins on tour during that span, all of them coming from Mickelson, who won in 2010. Luke Donald and Lee Westwood are going for their first major win, while British Open champions Darren Clarke is out with an injury.
Some tee times includes 8 AM for Sandy Lyle, John Peterson and Nathan Smith, 10:34 for Bubba Watson, Ian Poulter and Steven Fox, and 10:45 for Tiger Woods, Luke Donald and Scott Piercy.
