Shane Lowry and Rory McIlroy’s interaction sums up Par 3 Contest as Erica Stoll makes appearance

Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry, and Tommy Fleetwood all competed in the Masters Par 3 contest on Wednesday, with their families all joining along for the ride at Augusta

Is there a better ribbon cutting for an event than the Par 3 contest at the Masters?

The annual Wednesday tradition at Augusta National is a staple for both fans and players. And this year Rory McIlroy, joined by wife Erica Stoll and daughter Poppy (who now knows he’s famous), played alongside Shane Lowry and Tommy Fleetwood, who were accompanied by their respective families.

The event is usually a fluffy affair with most players letting a member of their family take a shot at some point – which naturally disqualifies them from the tournament. But you do get a few who like to try and win it and risk the Par 3 Contest curse; if you win that you don’t win the big one on Sunday…or so it goes.

Perhaps not wanting to fall under any spells, McIlroy and his party decided to enjoy themselves during the contest. Such was their lack of seriousness, McIlroy sarcastically quipped on hole 3, “Very impressive display of golf.”

Lowry asked in reply, “Have we hit a green yet?” to which his pal guffawed. On the fifth hole, Poppy thought she’d be helpful by picking up Lowry’s ball which fell short of the green. Upon instructing her to place it back on the fringe, McIlroy told Lowry: “She’s doing you a favor.”

On the same hole, Lowry let his daughter take a putt, which she promptly drained to loud chairs from patrons. And two holes later on the 7th, McIlroy enjoyed a sprint race with Poppy up the fairway to the hole.

And if you wanted any further evidence as to how chill the three golfers were before their Thursday tee times, while waiting for the group ahead to tee off on the 8th, they all laid down on the grass to soak up the day.

But the day ended with possibly the greatest finale. With the group having already finished the hole, McIlroy dropped a ball at the top of the green for his four-year-old daughter to putt. She barely touched the ball but it soon gathered pace and hurtled towards the hole.