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Chung Diary: Fun with Dad at Par 3 Contest

Chung on No. 2 during practice
Sam Greenwood/Augusta National
Amateur David Chung hits from the bunker on No. 2 during a 2011 Practice Round.
David Chung, 21, received an invitation to the 2011 Masters as the runner-up in the 2010 U.S. Amateur Championship. Chung, from Fayetteville, N.C., is a junior Communications major at Stanford University where he was an All-American choice last season. He also won the Porter Cup and Western Amateur in 2010. Chung is sharing his thoughts on his Masters debut through tournament week with Masters.com's Tom Spousta:

I played the Par 3 Contest, and the funniest thing was when I got to the ninth hole and I hadn't made a birdie yet. My dad, Chris, was my caddie, and he said, "God, make a birdie already, what are you doing?" I'm like, "OK," and I hit this exact shot that I had visualized, and it hit about 20 feet behind the hole, and I see it tracking back toward the hole, and I'm like, "Oh my God, it's going in!" And it just lipped out and stopped two feet away, and the crowd was like, "Oooohhhhhhhh!"

So then I have this really short putt, and go to my Dad, "Hey, why don't you putt it?" He's like, "OK, OK," but then he says, "I can't putt with your long putter. It feels really weird, I'm going to yip it." I'm like, "Dad, it's a foot and a half! You can make it!"

So we borrowed a putter from another player, and he got over it, he's sitting over it, and he makes this really quick backstroke, and he hits it in the dead-center of the cup. That was just great. I shot even par, and my dad made my only birdie.

It was a really cool day. So many people, all the kids were there … it was awesome.

I played 14 holes today, played the front nine by myself and then joined with Retief Goosen, Sean O'Hair and Charl Schwartzel for four or five holes. It was really good. Goosen hits it so hard and far, it's ridiculous. He's huge. In person, his upper body and arms have so much meat on them. Oh, and the guy can putt, too.

I'm just going to get to bed early and wake up at 6 a.m., get out there about 7 a.m. and start warming up for my 7:56 tee time. I kinda prefer morning because the greens will be fresh, everything will be in perfect shape and we won't have to wait too long. Morning's a great time for me.

I don't get that nervous on the tees actually. It hasn't been that bad considering it's the Masters. I thought I'd be nervous on the Par 3 tees, but I wasn't that nervous. Nerves can be a good thing. It can get you focused and aware of what you need to do. They're not a bad thing at all. We'll see.

Chung at Par 3
Amateur David Chung waves to the gallery during the Par 3 Contest on Wednesday.
Jamie Squire/Getty Images

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