Jack Nicklaus threatened to ensure the ''curse'' of the par-three champion would definitely continue in the 79th Masters thanks to a hole-in-one in the traditional pre-tournament contest on Wednesday.
Nicklaus was already one under par when he holed out on the fourth hole of the picturesque course in the grounds of Augusta National, his tee shot landing around 15ft past the pin and spinning back into the hole.
That took the 75-year-old six-time champion to three under par alongside three-time winner Nick Faldo, Holland's Joost Luiten and Canadian amateur Corey Conners, with Nicklaus and Faldo not contesting the tournament proper from Thursday onwards.
Since the contest started in 1960, nobody has ever become par-three and Masters champion in the same week, a fact which sometimes sees players deliberately not shoot the best score possible.
Most players treat it as light relief and invite family or friends to act as their caddies, including Tiger Woods this year for the first time since 2004. Woods had his children Charlie and Sam on his bag and made sure he could not win the event by getting daughter Sam to tap in for par on the sixth.
Tournament favourite Rory McIlroy had One Direction singer Niall Horan acting as his caddie.