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There is no Indian in the field, but there was a strong Indian connection at the Par-3 contest and the duo who held the spotlight will continue their march at the Masters, which got underway on Thursday.
The duo was Masters debutant Matt Wallace of England, the winner of Par-3 contest, and Devon Bling, whose father is Indian and moved to the US in 1978. Bling was tied third.
Journey of Wallace
Matt Wallace, making his debut at the Masters, started the week with a couple of notable achievements. They included the 100th ace of the Par-3 contest since its inception in 1960 and a play-off win over former Masters Champion, Sandy Lyle, who won the Par-3 contest back-to-back in 1997 and 1998, and that the second one came 10 years after his Masters win in 1988. Wallace beat Lyle on the third play-off hole. Earlier he aced the eighth hole to mark a century of aces in Par-3 contests.
Wallace’s remarkable journey from 151 in the world to his current No 36 rank started with his win at the Hero Indian Open in March 2018. Wallace had expressed regret at not being able to defend his Hero Indian Open crown as he had qualified for the World Golf Championships Matchplay.
Wallace totalled 23-under, as did Lyle, while three players carded 22-under each and one of them was Devon Bling, a hugely talented young American amateur.
Bling who, like Wallace, also had a hole-in-one, but on the seventh hole, was in a tie for third with two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson and Martin Kaymer. Bling and two other players — Shane Lowry on No 2 and Mark O’Meara on No 5 — also had aces.
Dedicated Devon
Devon’s father Nick is Indian, who moved to the US in 1978 and met Sara Bling, a London-born physical therapist. Nick and Sara married in 1990. Devon, now 19, grew up in Ridgecrest, California, and was always inclined towards golf.
He got his invite to the Masters after finishing runner-up at the 2018 US Amateurs, which he lost in a play-off.
Devon’s mother Sara brought him up as his father travelled a lot for work, and she was instrumental in the development of his golf. However, tragedy struck the family, when Sara died of a stroke in 2013 and since then Devon has played and dedicated his golf to his biggest fan, his mother, who always wanted to see her son play at Augusta.
Devon and his father have taken on Sara’s second name.
At the unique Par-3 contest, trophies are also awarded to the winner and to the contestants who place their tee shot nearest the flagstick on each of the nine holes.
There is also supposed to be a jinx that the winner of the Par-3 contest never wins the Masters in the same year, though 11 players have won the Par-3 and the Green Jacket in different years.
‘Great number’
Wallace, who had his girlfriend Chelsea on the bag, said, “I wanted to hole that putt on the last and I didn’t and then went to a playoff and it got a little bit more serious than how the nine holes went and I guess I just I wanted to win this, I want to break history somewhat.” Wallace used a 54-degree and the hole was playing 108 yards.
On his ace, he said, “She (Chelsea) called a great number. She was like, ‘come on, this is my job, just hole this one.’ I hit it straight at the flag and pulled it and it went in.”
Bling was delighted, and said, “I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. First Masters, first Par 3, hit a great shot, it went in, and, yeah, that’s the best thing that’s ever happened in the world.”
On his debut, he added, “Well it’s been a dream of mine since I was, since I learned how to play golf or even picked up a club, to play here and be a part of this field and it’s just an honor to play against all the great players in the world and, yeah, that’s just all I could say, it’s a dream come true for me.”
He missed the last par putt to stay at 5-under and a share of the lead, and ended in a tie for third as Wallace and Lyle tied for lead. He added, “But I had a great time, I made that hole-in-one, so it was a win for me for the start of the week.”
The latest edition of Masters has 87 players from 22 different countries, six of whom are amateurs, and 17 first-time invitees.
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