Rory McIlroy’s four-year-old daughter showed her father how it was done by delighting the Augusta National crowd with a monster putt on the eve of the Masters.
The Northern Irishman, who needs to win the Masters to complete the career grand slam, helped Poppy sink a long birdie putt on the final hole.
“Yeah, very cool,” McIlroy said when asked about that moment.
“It’s just such a fun afternoon. Being out there with Shane (Lowry) and Tommy (Fleetwood) and their families, we’re all very, very close, so to have the kids out there and them having fun is the most important thing.
“It’s a really nice way to sort of end the preparation going into what is the serious part of the week. So it’s nice to be able to get out here and do this.”
Other wholesome moments in the curtain-raiser included Jordan Spieth, the 2015 champion, telling his young daughter Sophie not to eat the grass. Spieth was also accompanied by his wife, Annie, who caddied for him as he played alongside Max Homa whose two-year-old son, Cam, also took part in an all-white caddy outfit.
Homa had asked fellow American , Wyndham Clark, to bring a children’s putter to Georgia as he didn’t have room in his luggage. “I felt like I was carrying the most important thing ever,” Clark told ESPN after delivering the club. Meanwhile, Jon Rahm’s son, Kepa, took a more direct approach – almost kicking the ball in from 30 feet.
Colombia’s Nico Echavarria now faces an extra hurdle to overcome in his bid to claim a first major title after winning the par-three contest. Echavarria birdied the second extra hole to beat American JJ Spaun in a play-off after the pair completed the nine-hole course in the grounds of Augusta National in five under par.
Since the contest started in 1960, nobody has ever become par-three and Masters champion in the same week, a fact which often sees players deliberately not shoot the best score possible.
US Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley and five-time major winner Brooks Koepka both made a hole-in-one on the sixth, with fellow American Tom Hoge recording an ace on the fourth.