Has The Masters Par 3 Contest Lost Its Sparkle?

The traditional Masters par 3 contest is celebrated by players and patrons, and it was its usual relaxed and family friendly fun on Wednesday - with some added extras.

It may be an unpopular opinion but I have grown tired of it, and many fans on social media share the same view.

I actually found myself taking a break from it at one point, having watched endless player interviews about how much fun they were having and how special it is for their families.

It's nice to hear that once or twice but I found it tiresome after a couple of hours.

Much of the talk this week has been about Frankie Fleetwood's quest to carry the water on the 9th.

It is undoubtedly a great story but it snowballed throughout the week to the point where Tommy's son has received more coverage than the majority of the field, it seems to me at least.

Frankie is an eight-year-old and the build-up for his shot and the pressure it must have put on him made me feel a little uneasy.

The Fried Egg's Kevin Van Valkenburg described the anticipation of the youngster's attempt akin to an Evel Knievel jump and I couldn't put it better myself. Kevin wasn't criticizing the coverage but for me it was a little too much.

We also had Jason Kelce on the mic, which certainly divided fans on social media, as well as Kevin Hart caddying for Bryson DeChambeau, turning the quaint contest at the ultra-exclusive club into somewhat of an entertainment circus.

The Masters is as traditional as the sport gets but it feels like the par 3 contest is beginning to go a step too far.

This was the same day when Fred Ridley told media: "A few years ago we had Dude Perfect playing frisbee at Amen Corner. In retrospect, I like those guys, but that may not have been the best idea."

Ridley has been a remarkable chairman at the famed Georgia club, pushing it further into the modern day and genuinely growing the game through some remarkable amateur initiatives as well as community projects, but we don't need to be growing the par 3 contest into a giant spectacle.

Perhaps he also agrees that it has gone too far.

Yes, it's great to see the players in a relaxed environment with their families and it's a fantastic viewing experience for patrons - I was converted into a par 3 contest fan when I was on site, it's genuinely brilliant to attend - but the TV product is not great and I think it takes away from the prestige and mystique of the event.

We don't need hours dedicated to players and their families answering the same questions over and over again and endless images of children rolling around in bunkers and on greens.

I certainly don't think it's time to end the par 3 contest, but I do think it's time to end the live coverage of it.

Perhaps show a few highlights of the best shots and moments, but keep it for on-site patrons and leave Wednesday's TV coverage for analysis, interview recaps and other means of building anticipation.

As a golf fan on Wednesday of The Masters, all I want to do is watch wall-to-wall coverage of the Golf Channel's Live From along with old Masters re-runs, not a festival-style event dotted with celebrities and interview after interview unrelated to the actual Major tournament starting the following day.

Of course, I can choose to avoid the par 3 contest - and I will be doing just that next year.

What did you make of the 2026 Masters par 3 contest? Let me know in the comments section below.