Jerry Pate claims Par-3 competition

American Jerry Pate is not worried about any U.S. Masters jinx after winning the par-three tournament on Wednesday. He has not qualified for the year's first major.

According to Augusta folklore, a victory in the par-three competition is the kiss of death to Masters title hopes.

No one has ever won the par-three and then gone on to slip into the green jacket four days later.

Three-times champion Tiger Woods and last year's runner-up Ernie Els both decided against tempting fate and skipped this year's event.

Irishman Padraig Harrington, rated one of the favourites to lift his first major, had no such reservations as he teed it up in the brilliant Georgia sunshine looking for a third consecutive par-three victory.

With major winners invited to take part in the par-three event, Pate, the 1976 U.S. Open champion, returned a five-under 22 to finish one shot clear of twice Masters champion Ben Crenshaw, who was one of three players to card a hole-in-one.

"I've been coming here for 31 years and almost all the years I've competed in the par-three," said Pate, whose best Masters finish was a tie for third in 1982.

"I've come real close a couple of times but never been fortunate enough to win the tournament (par three). I think I finished second twice, maybe three times."

Australia's Mark Hensby and Spaniard Jose Maria Olazabal, winner at Augusta in 1994 and 1999, were one shot further adrift.