Par-3 winner Ryan Moore pleased with play

It wasn’t a beaming, ear-to-ear grin Ryan Moore was wearing after winning Wednes­day’s Par-3 Contest at the Masters Tournament.

That’s understandable. It’s been well-documented that no player has won the Masters in the same year he has won the Par-3 Con­test, a fact that hardly eluded Moore.

But he still was happy to be hoisting the crystal awarded to the winner after making six birdies on his way to 6-under 21 and a two-shot win over Kevin Stadler and Fuzzy Zoeller.

“I’m one of those people, if I’m entering something, I’m trying to win it no matter what,” said Moore, 31. “I don’t believe in any of that other stuff about, you know, the curse or whatever. I mean, the reality is the odds of winning both are not very high. So it just hasn’t happened yet. Obviously, I’d be happy to be the first person to break that.”

What had Moore even more pleased than winning was how he got it done. The three-time PGA Tour winner, who captured his third title earlier this season at the CIMB Classic, hadn’t been pleased with his short game recently.

His wedge play was crisp Wednesday as Moore gave himself short birdie chances and cashed in on most of them, including four in a row on Nos. 4-7. Moore had a simple tap-in on the final hole to get to 6-under.

“I’ve been putting in a lot of work with my wedges with my coach,” Moore said. “To come out and hit a bunch of good wedges, that’s just a positive reinforcement that we’re working on good stuff. I hit a few tap-ins, and the rest of the shots were great looking shots.”

Moore didn’t get a hole-in-one, but three were made, including a pair on No. 2. Mark O’Meara, playing in one of the first groups, aced the 70-yard hole. Later in the day, University of Florida coach Buddy Alexander matched the feat while playing with former Gator players Billy Horschel and Matt Every. Alexander is a noncompeting invitee who was afforded an opportunity to play in the contest by winning the U.S. Amateur in 1987.

For O’Meara, the ace was particularly special.

“I’ve played in this event pretty much every single year,” said the 1998 Masters champion, who also won the Par-3 Contest in 2007 when he had his only other hole-in-one in the event. “This was the first time my wife, Merideth, has ever caddied for me, so it was pretty cool. To make a hole-in-one with my wife on the bag, I guess she’ll either be getting the crystal or a new pair of shoes.”

Matt Jones, who chipped in for birdie on the first playoff hole to win last week’s Houston Open to get his Masters invite, aced the 90-yard No. 3.