Masters 2015: Par 3 Contest live stream, how to watch online

Tiger Woods will actually hit competitive golf shots on Wednesday! Unfortunately, it will be in a competition he has no desire to win.

Woods will tee it up in the annual Masters Par-3 Contest for the first time since 2004, an unexpected turn for the four-time green jacket winner who seems to be changing up his entire routine this week. The Par-3 jinx, of course, is a well-known phenomenon and Tiger is not going to be the one to try and break it.

The Par-3 Contest dates back to 1960 and no player has ever won it and then gone on to win the main event on Sunday night. Everyone knows about this record (or “curse” if you believe in those things), and players often intentionally dump a ball or two in the water or not turn in a scorecard if they’re threatening the top of the leaderboard.

Tiger said he’ll do the same when he heads out just before 3 p.m. ET with his two kids toting his bag around the separate par-3 course on the grounds of Augusta National. Woods said on Wednesday during his press conference that he has no intention of winning:

I had an opportunity to do that once, remember that? It was raining. Didn’t show up for the playoff ... There are certain things that ‑‑ I’ve been low before there. I’ve been 6‑under through 8, and for some reason the wind came up and I hit two balls in the water on 9 (laughter). Just so happened to be that way, you know, just one of those weird things.

No one’s ever done it. I don’t want to prove it wrong, so just have a good time.

So Tiger won’t really be competing, but that doesn’t mean this event won’t get a ton of demand and hype. In addition to Tiger’s return after a decade away, Rory McIlroy will have Niall Horan, who I hear is a member of a group called One Direction, looping for him and adding to the circus.

This is always one of the cooler events of the year. The Masters, unlike the other majors, really is a full weeklong event. There’s much more beyond the four tournament days. And the Par-3 is a big part of that, with kids, wives, and girlfriends caddying and some of the game’s legends playing in front of the camera, which is rare for Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player these days.

The scene was enough to televise and stream, and ESPN picked up the coverage beginning in 2008. They will have the broadcast again on Wednesday, carrying two hours of coverage starting at 3 p.m. ET. Tiger, Rory, and the legends trio of Nicklaus, Player, and Ben Crenshaw are all out later in the contest right when ESPN goes live. If you’re unable to get in front of a TV during the middle of the workday, you can stream it all online via WatchESPN. Here are all your media options from the par-3 course at ANGC:

3 to 5 p.m. -- ESPN

5 p.m. -- SportsCenter at the Masters with continuing coverage/highlights