Tim Clark knows his Masters history.

He understands no player has ever won the Par-3 Contest, as he did Wednesday, and the tournament in the same year.

Yet he also knows contending in the Masters is more about steady play than karma.

Clark, the runner-up in the 2006 Masters, leads the tournament midway through the first round. The South African posted a 4-under-par 68 Thursday morning and is tied with Shingo Katayama and Chad Campbell, who still have several holes to play.

The trio leads Kevin Sutherland, Ross Fisher and Nick Watney by a shot. Sutherland and Fisher fired 3-under-par 69s while Watney was still on the course.

Fisher, an Englishmen, looked like the probable leader with two holes left in his round. He birdied the par-3 16th hole to get to 5-under-par only to bogey the last two holes.

"Getting it to 5-under was great, and to finish at 3 was disappointing," Fisher said. "But to walk off Augusta National with a 69, you're obviously doing something right."

Clark played the par-5s right Thursday. He birdied all four despite laying up on each of them. He credited his wedge play - honed in Wednesday's Par-3 Contest -- for putting him in position for easy putts on each of them.

"I was no more than eight or 10 feet away on all of them," Clark said.

As for the Par-3 Contest jinx, Clark said he's not superstitious. And he's not concerned with making history either.

"I wish they'd play a few PGA Tour events on par-3 courses," Clark said. "I feel like I'd have a good chance."