Louis Oosthuizen wins pre-Masters par-3 event
Louis Oosthuizen became the third South African in as many years to win this prelude event to the Masters. No player has ever won the par-3 contest and gone on to win the Masters itself
Louis Oosthuizen won the pre-Masters par-3 contest, Wednesday, becoming the third South African in a row to win the nine-hole event.
Oosthuizen follows fellow countrymen Rory Sabbatini and Tim Clark who won in 2008 and 2009 respectively. They each finished with a score of five-under but Oosthuizen went one better with his six-under score of just 21 shots, just one stroke away from a new record.
Oosthuzien finished two strokes ahead of 16-year old amateur prodigy Matteo Manassero, Jerry Pate, K.J.Choi, and David Duval. This may be in fact a bad omen for him, though, as no one has ever won the Masters after winning this traditional tune-up round before the tournament. The recent Andalucia Open winner will have a chance to reverse this trend when the 2010 Masters gets underway tomorrow.
An interesting rumour had spread earlier in the day that Tiger Woods would be playing in the par-3 challenge. Woods' spokesman, however, denied this and announced that Woods had left Augusta for the day after playing with Mark O'Meara for nine holes.
The other key highlights of the day other than from Oosthuizen came from Graeme McDowell and Jim Furyk, both claiming aces during their rounds.
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