Matt Parziale, the 30-year-old amateur and full-time Brockton firefighter who is competing at the Masters this week, played a nine-hole practice round with Tiger Woods and Fred Couples on Wednesday.

Woods seemed to enjoy the experience.

“Matt played great today and we really had a lot of fun. He’s a terrific kid and we had a really good time,’’ Woods said, according to Tiger Tracker. “I had a nice time with his dad, too. He told some great stories about the fire department and things that he’s done.’’

Parziale and his father, who serves as his caddie, were unavailable for comment as they made their way to the Par 3 contest after the practice round was over. But Woods seemed to come away impressed.

“The fact that Matt puts his life on the line every day for others, and then does this is amazing,’’ said Woods. “I’m really impressed by his game. He’s a very good player.’’

Parziale qualifed for the tournament when he won the US Mid-Amateur Championship in Atlanta in October.

He tees off at 8:52 a.m. on Thursday with Mike Weir and Brendan Steele.

Finau hurts ankle

Tony Finau injured his left ankle celebrating a hole-in-one during the Par-3 Tournament and then seemingly popped it back into place. Finau said on Twitter he is optimistic he will play Thursday.

Finau flew his ball to the back of the seventh green on the Par-3 course at Augusta National and spun it back into the hole for an ace. He started running toward the hole to celebrate, then turned and backpedaled before landing awkwardly on his left ankle. He dropped to one knee and ended up pushing the joint back into place.

Finau, ranked No. 34 in the world, ended up withdrawing from the event but stuck around for the final two holes. He gingerly walked to a golf cart and was driven off the course.

Tom Watson won the exhibition at 6-under, one shot better than Tommy Fleetwood and Thomas Pieters.

Jack Nicklaus’s grandson, Gary Jr., who was caddying for the six-time Masters winner, made a hole-in-one at No. 9.

Johnson back at it

The recovery from the back injury took a lot longer than he imagined, longer than the sting of having to miss the 2017 Masters.

Dustin Johnson, with a history of misfortune in the majors, has a knack of moving forward.

If only everyone would quit reminding him.

‘‘I get asked about it every day out here on the range or walking down the fairway,’’ Johnson said. ‘‘So I'm reminded all the time.’’

Johnson’s injury was a freak accident at the worst time.

He had won his last three tournaments against three of the strongest fields of the year, which not only elevated him to No. 1 in the world, it made him the biggest favorite at the Masters since Woods was at his peak.

Then 24 hours before he was to tee off, calamity struck.

Johnson slipped and crashed down some stairs, wrenching his back. His brother, Austin, was the first to reach him and still recalls the wild eyes of his older brother looking up at him.

Johnson tried to loosen up on the range. He went to the putting green. And then he had no choice but to withdraw.

‘‘It was just a freak thing, and it happened. There’s nothing I can do about it except I'm here this year,’’ Johnson said Tuesday. ‘‘Hopefully, I can tee it up on Thursday. Definitely be looking forward to that.’’

One year later, so much has changed. Johnson remains No. 1 in the world for the 59th consecutive week — only Woods (three times), Greg Norman (twice) and Nick Faldo have held the No. 1 ranking longer.

But he hasn’t won since the first tournament of the year, an eight-shot victory at Kapalua.

Along with a green jacket, the No. 1 ranking is up for grabs.

Justin Thomas (No. 2), Jon Rahm (No. 3) and Jordan Spieth (No. 4) all have a reasonable chance to replace Johnson at No. 1 if they were to win.

A longer 13th?

It sounds like the final hole at Amen Corner is going to get a little longer.

At least one golfer says hallelujah.

Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley hinted that the par-5 13th, a 510-yard hole known as Azalea, could be super-sized down the road.

‘‘There’s a great quote from Bobby Jones dealing specifically with the 13th hole, which has been lengthened over time, and he said the decision to go for the green in two should be a momentous one,’’ Ridley said during his pre-Masters news conference. ‘‘And I would have to say that our observations of these great players hitting middle, and even short irons, into that hole is not a momentous decision.’’

The par-5 eighth also could get a mild makeover. The 570-yard hole nicknamed Yellow Jasmine ranked third-easiest in 2017, yielding 90 birdies.

Material from the AP was used.