AUGUSTA, Ga. — On this crisp, sun-splashed Wednesday afternoon at Augusta National, players, wives and their adorable kids were all smiles as they frolicked through the Masters’ traditional par 3 contest. Call it the fun before the torment. The uncontested layup before the full-court press. But not the calm before the storm, since there’s nary a drop of rain in the forecast the next four days. ...

Scottie Scheffler carries his son, Bennett, during the Par Three Contest prior to the Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club on Wednesday, April 8, 2026, in Augusta, Georgia.

Andrew Redington/Getty Images North America/TNS

AUGUSTA, Ga. — On this crisp, sun-splashed Wednesday afternoon at Augusta National, players, wives and their adorable kids were all smiles as they frolicked through the Masters’ traditional par 3 contest.

Call it the fun before the torment. The uncontested layup before the full-court press. But not the calm before the storm, since there’s nary a drop of rain in the forecast the next four days.

Therein lies the expected difficulty of the 90th Masters, which begins with Thursday morning’s ceremonial tee shots by Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Tom Watson. Dry conditions translate into firm, fast greens, which is Augusta National at its most challenging.

In other words, exactly the way World No. 1 and two-time Masters champion Scottie Scheffler of Dallas likes it.

“The forecast looks great,” said Scheffler, who tees off at 1:44 p.m. ET, with Gary Woodland and Robert MacIntyre. “I would imagine they would like the greens to get fast. I’m excited to see how it plays this week.”

This is the first Masters since 1994 in which either Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson isn’t in the field. That’s unfortunate for nostalgic fans, but in reality the Masters torch was passed after then-43-year-old Woods won his fifth green jacket in 2019.

In Scheffler’s debut Masters the following year, played in November due to COVID-19, he was paired with Woods in the final round and also recalls watching Mickelson that week. He tied for 19th, ahead of 44th-place Woods and 55th-place Mickelson.

“I felt like I learned a lot by watching both those guys play the course and compete in the tournament,” Scheffler recalled Wednesday. “That was, I guess, my welcome-to-the-Masters-type moment.”

In ensuing Masters, Scheffler finished T-18, 1st, T-10, 1st and T-4.

This is Scheffler’s 140th consecutive week as World No. 1. He’s coming off a 2025 season in which he won the PGA Championship and British Open. He’s supplanted fellow Dallasite Jordan Spieth as the player most likely to contend annually at Augusta National.

In six starts this season Scheffler has one victory (The American Express in late January) and three other top-12 finishes, but pre-Masters murmurs have focused on his less-stellar ball-striking this season.

After finishing first on tour each of the past three seasons in strokes gained on approach to the green, he is 82nd this year. Entering last year’s Masters, he was sixth in strokes gained on approach.

Entering last year’s Masters, he was seventh on tour in greens proximity. This year he’s 145th.

Another factor supposedly working against Scheffler. Every year since 2022 he’d played a tour event two weeks before the Masters, but this season he hasn’t played since the March 12 final round of The Players Championship, instead remaining in Dallas while awaiting wife Meredith to give birth.

Son Remy Scheffler was born March 27, yet Wednesday, just 12 days later, the entire Scheffler family took part in the par 3 contest.

Scottie played, 23-month-old Bennett hit a few shots with a plastic club, and Meredith walked the nine-hole par 3 course carrying Remy in a stomach pouch.

“I think major championships can be stressful as you prepare for them,” Scottie said. “And having an afternoon like this, where I can come out and relax and have fun with my family, is really nice.”

The par 3 tournament concluded late in the afternoon. Condolences to Aaron Rai, the winner at 6 under. Since the par 3 tournament’s 1960 debut, none of its victors have gone on to win that week’s Masters.

Shortly after Meredith and the kids left the par 3 course, Scottie returned to the practice tee, under the watchful eye of his coach since his elementary school days, Royal Oaks pro emeritus Randy Smith.

If Scheffler doesn’t return to his ball-striking dominance this week, he says it won’t be due to lack of sleep with a newborn in the house, nor will it be because of a lack of practice since arriving here Sunday.

“I truly feel that once you drive down Magnolia Lane, everything else melts away, and you get here and be focused,” Scheffler said. “There’s not a lot of distractions this week. This tournament and the Players Championship are two of the best-run tournaments we have.

“Augusta keeps going above and beyond to make things special and easy for us as players. Especially the practice rounds. The practice rounds are very peaceful. There’s no phones. There’s no people asking for selfies in the middle of the round.

“It’s very calm out there, and people follow the rules here.”

____