AUGUSTA, Ga. — Eight-year-old Frankie Fleetwood stole the show at Augusta National from his dad, Tommy Fleetwood, who merely had one of the many holes-in-one Wednesday during the family-friendly Par 3 Contest on the eve of the Masters.
The young Fleetwood went viral last year when he lamented in a post-round interview that he couldn’t clear Ike’s Pond, which fronts the ninth green on the par-3 course. So, all eyes were on him this year, even after Tommy had aced the fourth hole an hour earlier.
“I’m not so confident,” Frankie admitted, “but honestly, on the range this afternoon, I felt good. So, I feel like I got a chance.”
Frankie made solid contact with his tee shot on the 120-yard hole, but he was off line and the ball splashed right of the green. As he slumped in disappointment, the crowd packed shoulder to shoulder around the eighth and ninth holes implored him to take a mulligan, so Frankie reteed and took another big swing. This time, the ball missed the green by a couple of feet.
“Nearly got it. A few inches, maybe,” Frankie said.
As Tommy added, “He was happy with his shots, and he was so close, as well. Another year, right, Frank?”
As for the competition itself, Aaron Rai birdied the last four holes to shoot 6 under and win the contest, though that might not be such a good thing. Nobody who has won the event has gone on to win the Masters in the same year.
Justin Thomas aced the second hole, Wyndham Clark had a hole-in-one on the seventh and Keegan Bradley, Clark’s playing partner, aced the eighth hole to become the first in Masters history to make a hole-in-one in consecutive years in the Par 3 Contest.
Ex-NFL lineman and current ESPN analyst Jason Kelce (paired with Akshay Bhatia) and comedian Kevin Hart (with Bryson DeChambeau) were among the celebrity caddies.
“It’s a special day,” Thomas said. “It’s really fun. Obviously, a beautiful day. And hopefully, just a great start to a great week.”
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
