Masters latest: Par 3 Contest, adorable kids, holes-in-one

One of the many reasons the Masters is so unique, no other golf tournament is so intense down the

stretch on Sunday and so loose, carefree, and dare I say fun the day before the competition starts

Wednesday at the Masters is the par 3 contest where the pros play an adjacent course like you

and your friends would play a muni down the road with a few minor differences. There's always a hole

in one or two. This year, Keegan Bradley and Brooks Koepka got to jump around on the tee box

and celebrate. And kids and families are everywhere, nearly all of them wearing caddy

jumpsuits. Check out three-year-old Sammy Spieth's tee shot. Jordan Spieth eliminating himself from competition with the very first swing

Let it rip, Sammy. Tomorrow, things turn serious and last year's runner-up, Ludwig Oberg

would like to let her rip too. He's a dark horse to win playing in just his second Masters

I do feel comfortable. I feel like the experiences that I've had in the last 12 months

have helped me to get to this point in my career. And it's still really hard

Augusta is still a really hard place to go and play at But I like it It demands a lot of creativity It demands a lot of shot shaping And you know the greens are obviously the way they are According to FanDuel Sportsbook the suite is fifth on the list of betting favorites to win the Masters behind some heavy company

including defending champ Scotty Scheffler, four-time major winner Rory McIlroy, the 2023 Masters champ John Rahn, and two-time major winner Colin Morikawa

On the other end of the experience spectrum, two-time Masters winner Bernhard Langer will be in one of the first groups out on Thursday

He will tee it up for the 41st and final time as a competitor

At 67 years old, Langer, who hails from Germany, held back tears talking about his experiences at Augusta over the years and why he's calling it quits

It's going to be bittersweet. I think I knew it was time to call it quits as a player

I wanted to do it last year, but I couldn't with my Achilles surgery

The course is just getting too long, and I'm getting shorter and shorter

and I'm hitting hybrids where the other kids hit nine irons and eight irons

Many can certainly relate to that. What a fantastic career for Longer

The first round gets underway at 7.30 a.m. Eastern, and the conditions are forecast to be near perfect for the year's first major

For Straight Arrow News, I'm Chris Francis