AUGUSTA, Ga. — Nico Echavarria is now (almost certainly) out of the running for the green jacket.

While the 89th edition of the Masters hasn’t even started yet, Echavarria will at least get to head home from Augusta National Golf Course in Georgia with some hardware.

Echavarria beat J.J. Spaun in a playoff to win the annual Par 3 Contest on Wednesday at the Masters. Both Echavarria and Spain went 5-under in regulation on the short par-3 course situated just to the east of the clubhouse, and then the two needed a pair of playoff holes to settle the event. Eventually, it was Echavarria who stuck his tee shot right next to the cup for an easy birdie.

That earned him the crystal pedestal bowl.

That win, while a great feat, now means that Echavarria is the latest victim of the “Par 3 Curse.” No golfer has ever won the Par 3 Contest and then gone on to win the Masters in the same year, which has created an infamous lore among many golfers and led to the event becoming wholly unserious — which is what makes it great.

Golfers bring their families and young kids to essentially mess around on the par-3 course at Augusta National and relax ahead of the start of the tournament. Naturally, that makes things a bit chaotic. At the ninth green, Sam Burns' wife had to hustle a bit to catch up to their toddler who had started crawling to the edge of the lake. 

Many golfers pass off shots to their kids or their wives, which takes them out of the running for the title, but is almost always worth it. Just ask Aaron Rai, who swapped roles with his wife after she outdid him, or Billy Horschel’s daughter, who erupted after sinking a deep putt.

Poppy McIlroy even drained a deep putt at the final green that she just barely tapped with the help of her dad, which sparked a huge celebration from everybody except for her.

Gary Player, who is perhaps the fittest 89-year-old on the planet, was throwing darts on the course and loving every minute of it.

There were, of course, thee aces on the day. The first one came from Keegan Bradley at the sixth, which Brooks Koepka matched later in the afternoon, and then Tom Hoge drained one at the fourth. 

Echavarria has won twice on the PGA Tour in his career, most recently at the ZOZO Championship last year. He’s made six cuts in 10 starts on Tour this season, and he fell in a playoff at the Sony Open in Hawaii back in January. Echavarria is playing in his first Masters this week, too, and he’ll tee off with Danny Willett and Davis Thompson early on Thursday morning. Though a run at the green jacket is now going to be extremely tough, Echavarria’s first Masters trip is going to be a memorable one. 

As for J.J. Spaun, he's still in the running in what was a rare win despite losing in the playoff.

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