Lydia Ko turns up as a caddie in Masters Par 3 Contest
Lydia Ko, the female professional golfer who is currently ranked No. 1 in the world, showed up as a caddie on Thursday, a day before the opening of the 2016 Masters Golf Tournament, the first major men’s golf tournament this season. She caddied for the Korean-born American golfer Kevin Na and played the round with Danny Lee, another Korean-born New Zealand golfer, in the Par 3 Contest, an annual event held in the par 3 course at Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia. It was reported Lydia Ko visited the tournament to attend the award ceremony for the 2015 Player of the Year Awards of the Gold Writers Association of America where she was offered a proposal to caddie for Kevin Na for the day.
In a traditional white caddie outfit and a green cap, Lydia Ko used Kevin Na’s number 9 iron to hit a tee shot, sending the ball to the cup as close as 60 centimeters to earn a birdie in No. 9 (135 yards). “I met with a lot of players such as Jordan Speith, Rickie Fowler, and Rory Mcilry. I had so much fun. I will never forget about this event,” said the No. 1 female golfer in the world.
With the inception dating back to 1960, the Par 3 Contest is a festive event where the players are accompanied by their wives, partners, and friends, sharing the fun with golf fans. This year in particular, the gallery was much excited as a total nine hole- in-ones were made, which is an all time high record. Justin Thomas and Rickie Fowler, who were in the same group with Lydia, recorded back-to-back hole-in-ones in No. 4. Jordan Speith was the only player who failed to pull off a hold-in-one in the group. 80-year-old legend Gary Player used the slope on No. 7 to pull the ball back from the right side of the green into the hole, becoming the oldest player to record a hole-in-one.
The odds of making a hold-in-one in professional golf are approximately 1 to 3,000. Stretching 1,060 yards, the par 3 course is comprised with 9 holes from as short as 70 to as long as 140 yards, and this year, a large number of hole-in-one were made as many players used accurate wedge shots to send the ball to the pin. The trophy went to Jimmy Walker, who shot a course-record eight-under 19. So far, no player has won the Par 3 Contest and Masters tournament in the same year.
