Tiger Woods enters the Masters at Augusta National as the favorite to win the first major of the year, but he will have no chance at the Par 3 Contest on Wednesday, as the new number one golfer in the world traditionally does not take part in the event and it's likely for good reason, as no winner of the contest has gone on to win the Masters.
Woods has won his past two starts and three times this season, including the Arnold Palmer Invitational two weeks ago that brought him back to the number one ranking over Rory McIlroy, who will be playing in the Par 3 tournament with a close friend as his caddy: his girlfriend Caroline Wozniacki. According to Yahoo Sports, McIlroy was asked about the contest on Tuesday by reporters and the golfer said that yes, his girlfriend would be working the bag for him on Wednesday.
The contest usually has the golfers have friends, family and significant others working as their caddies and McIlroy has some momentum heading into the day, as he finished second at the Texas Open over the weekend behind Martin Laird. Woods traditionally does not play in the tournament and this year he is looking to win his first major since 2008 and his 15th overall.
McIlroy was asked by reporters about his relationship and his rivalry with Tiger Woods, downplaying it completely by saying that all of Tiger's success puts him at another level to start. McIlroy talked about the 77 career wins on Tour by Woods, as well as his 14 majors, saying that his two doesn't compare quite yet to that number. Woods has won the Masters four times and McIlroy is playing in it for his fifth time, with his best finish coming in 2011 when he came in 15th.
Woods is playing in his 19th Masters at Augusta National and he is looking to add to his trophy collection with his first major since 2008 when he won the US Open in a playoff. The 23-year-old McIlroy has had a rough year so far, but appears to have turned a corner at the Texas Open. The former number one golfer missed the cut at Abu Dhabi and was eliminated at Match Play before quitting at the Honda Open.
McIlroy has been working on his swing all week since arriving and his practice rounds were solid, giving him some momentum heading into the tournament on Thursday.
