My Favorite Day of Masters Week Has Nothing to Do With the Leaderboard
My favorite day of Masters week is not Sunday.
It is not the back nine drama. Not Amen Corner. Not watching someone drain a putt on 18 to win the green jacket.
My favorite day is Wednesday. The Par 3 Contest. And I think the reason says everything about why I love this game — and why I think you will too.
What Happens on Wednesday at Augusta
Before the competitive rounds begin, the players and their families play the nine-hole Augusta Par 3 course together. And when I say families, I mean everyone — spouses, kids, parents, siblings — all of them wearing the iconic white caddie coverall uniforms with their names stitched on the back.
These are the most competitive golfers on the planet. Men who have spent their careers chasing precision and perfection. And on Wednesday, they hand their 6-year-old a club, step back, and beam while she takes her best swing at a par 3 at Augusta National.
Some of the kids are tiny. Some can barely reach the grip. And occasionally one of them steps up and absolutely drills it — and the crowd loses its mind. The player-dad is grinning so hard he looks like a completely different person than the one we watch compete on Sunday. It is pure, unfiltered joy — and it is the most wholesome thing you will see in professional sports all year.
Every single time I watch it, I feel the same thing: this is what golf is really about. Not the score. Not the ranking. Golf is about the Wednesday moments.
Why This Hits Different When You Actually Play
I started playing golf a few years ago as a total beginner. I came to it for the fresh air, the exercise, and the social connection — no grand ambitions, just curiosity.
Those early rounds were some of the most fun I have ever had. I was laughing at myself, accepting help from strangers, marveling at a sport that is simultaneously simple and endlessly humbling.
At some point — and I think this happens to a lot of golfers — I started getting more serious. Tracking scores. Comparing my progress to some imaginary timeline. And slowly, golf started feeling like work.
The Par 3 Contest is my annual reset button. Those kids in the caddie uniforms are not thinking about swing mechanics or weight transfer. They just walk up and swing as hard as they can — and they are absolutely thriving.
Watching them, I remember why I started. I hope it does the same for you.
The Rory Question I Keep Thinking About
This year there is an extra layer to all of it. Rory McIlroy walks back into Augusta as the defending champion — the man who waited 17 years, had his heart broken there more times than any of us wanted to watch, and finally completed the Career Grand Slam last spring.
And now he has to come back and do it again.
Is he more relaxed now that the weight of the Grand Slam is gone? Or does tasting it make the hunger even sharper?
I keep going back and forth. On one hand, he has nothing left to prove. On the other, now he knows exactly what it feels like to stand on 18 at Augusta with that green jacket waiting. And knowing changes everything.
I honestly think we might be about to see Rory in his most dangerous form. I will be watching every shot.
His Champions Dinner Menu Is Worth Talking About
Before the tournament even starts on Thursday, Rory hosts the annual Champions Dinner on Tuesday night — a private dinner for all past Masters champions, with the defending champion choosing the entire menu.
His menu this year is personal and thoughtful in the best way. Bacon-wrapped dates stuffed with goat cheese — a recipe from his mom Rosie. Grilled elk sliders from the big elk shipment he was eating in the lead-up to his win last year. Wagyu filet mignon or seared salmon for the main course, with traditional Irish Champ (a mashed potato dish he ate by the bowlful as a kid) on the side. Sticky toffee pudding for dessert.
And the wine? He selected a 1990 Château Lafite Rothschild — the exact wine he drank the night he won the Masters — plus his 1989 birth year wine to close the evening.
He said he just wanted it to come from the heart. Personal experience. A little nostalgia. He was not trying to impress anyone. He just made it meaningful.
There is a content lesson in there somewhere. 😄
What This Has to Do With You
Whether you are brand new to golf or a few seasons in, I want you to hold onto your Wednesday energy.
Not every round has to be a performance. Golf can just be fun — the kind of fun a kid in a caddie uniform has when she walks up to a par 3 at Augusta and swings without a single thought about what anyone thinks.
If you have been waiting until you're "good enough" to start — the Par 3 Contest is your sign. Those kids are not ready either. They just show up and swing.
You can do the same thing.
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Golf was never just about the score. It was about the Wednesday moments. Go find yours.
— Mary
