AUGUSTA, Ga. -- When a couple of adult males who presumably are doing all right for themselves in life looked at the leader board at the Masters' Par 3 Contest Wednesday afternoon, they were venomously gleeful.
Seeing that Rory Sabbatini appeared destined to win the event - and he did - one of the men said "Good. He's a *****"
They didn't really call him five asterisks, but you get the idea.
They didn't like the South African for whatever reasons. And they believed in the jinx of the Par 3 Contest. None of its winners since it debuted in 1960 have gone on to win the Masters the same year.
Some players believe in the jinx and have sabotaged their scores if they were getting too close to winning. Other top players like Vijay Singh and David Toms have ignored the "jinx" and won the contest. Others like Phil Mickelson and Zach Johnson say they want to win it.
"I'd love to be the first to win them both, but I just have not ever had a chance to win the Par 3," Mickelson said Tuesday. "My caddie gave me some terrible reads last year. Of course, she was only 5."
Many small children toted their fathers' clubs for them Wednesday. It's just a putter and a couple of wedges. The kids wear white jumpsuits just like the adult caddies wear. They look funny.
Johnson's 15-month-old son, Will, got some more national television time Wednesday when his dad brought him onto the ninth green and helped him use a baby putter to try to make a 3-footer. It missed.
Then 3-month-old Will was captured for posterity on CBS when his daddy kissed and embraced him following his final round here last year.
Between that moment and telling the world he was "Zach Johnson from Cedar Rapids, Iowa. I'm a normal guy," he may have made as many fans as his play here did. I overheard a man from Mississippi recounting the Cedar Rapids comment to a friend in the Par 3 Contest crowd with delight.
Back to little Will. As he was toddling off the green with his dad, he dropped a ball about 15 feet from the hole and wanted to try a longer putt. He didn't get to, but he was a big boy about it and didn't cry.
I think we're going to see that kid at a lot more Par 3 Contests here over the years.