Masters Par 3 Tournament 2016: Results, Highlights and Twitter Reaction

For anyone who downplays the significance of the Masters Par 3 Contest, Wednesday's action at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia, provided the galleries with plenty to cheer about.  

It wound up being an unprecedented showcase of aces in the 2016 edition of the lighthearted exhibition and a record score for the winner. Ones were running wild, as the contest participants racked up a record nine holes-in-one, shattering the prior record of five from 2002 and last year.

Jimmy Walker went eight under par on nine holes to beat out 1982 Masters Tournament winner Craig Stadler and Keegan Bradley by three strokes.

Place	Player	Score
1	Jimmy Walker	-8
T2	Keegan Bradley	-5
T2	Craig Stadler	-5
T4	Brandt Snedeker	-4
T4	Zach Johnson	-4
T4	Dustin Johnson	-4
T4	Paul Chaplet	-4
T4	Harris English	-4
T9	Smylie Kaufman	-3
T9	Bernhard Langer	-3
T9	Martin Kaymer	-3
T9	Ian Poulter	-3
T9	Anirban Lahiri	-3

Walker's ace at No. 2 was the eighth of nine:

The man who broke the record was none other than 80-year-old legend Gary Player. The Masters' official Twitter feed provided footage of his ace at No. 7 and noted the history he made:

PGA.com noted how the Black Knight has been no stranger to aces during his storied career, which featured nine major titles and the completion of the Grand Slam:

"

Until today, @garyplayer *only* had 30 career aces. Here's No. 31: https://t.co/M0HLI6c5va pic.twitter.com/Aww9dlyE8q

— PGA.COM (@PGAcom) April 6, 2016"

ESPN.com's Jason Sobel reacted to Player's prowess, alluding to what transpired in 2015 as context:

First to card an ace was past U.S. Open champion Webb Simpson to end his day on the ninth at one under. Andy Sullivan and David Lingmerth followed with aces at Nos. 5 and 7, respectively.

Then something bizarre happened. American young guns Justin Thomas and Rickie Fowler went back-to-back on No. 4 to match the all-time aces mark. Defending Masters champion Jordan Spieth was part of the group and had his birdie overshadowed.

Fowler tweeted a picture of the jubilation that broke out after he matched Thomas' achievement:

The PGA Tour's official Twitter feed shared some of Fowler's Snapchat story for an inside look at the stunning sequence:

Reigning Open Championship winner Zach Johnson aced the seventh not long after Player had, while Walker holed out from 70 yards at the second hole to set the tone for what wound up being the winning round of the day.

The only man to take one shot at the eighth was Smylie Kaufman, who had just witnessed Johnson's spectacular shot at No. 7 and mastered a difficult tee shot with little margin for error on the next hole:

Johnson and Kaufman finished at four and three under par, respectively, to finish inside the top 10, but weren't quite as formidable as Walker.

Golf Channel's Will Gray appreciated how Walker competed despite the adverse history that should discourage players from giving it their all in the Par 3 shootout:

Winning the Masters Par 3 Contest isn't an indicator of future green-jacket glory. No man has ever won the competition and gone on to win the major championship in the same year.

Perhaps Walker can buck that long-standing trend. He tied for eighth in his Masters debut in 2014, and in his past two stroke-play events, he has a sixth-place effort at the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship and a tie for 19th at the Shell Houston Open, which concluded last Sunday.

A lot of elite players are sporting fine form entering the Masters, though, led by world No. 1 Jason Day, who's won his past two starts. Day figures to be the favorite for the green jacket, yet someone under the radar like Walker could well emerge victorious come Sunday.