Augusta, Ga. – Even if it meant missing the event for which he has been waiting his whole life, Brett Quigley was determined not to miss the birth of his first child. So he left Tuesday, not knowing if he was going to be back in time for his tee time and not particularly worried about it.
It turns out that Quigley will be back at Augusta National for his start this afternoon for his first Masters and his first tournament as a father. Amy Quigley gave birth to Lillian Sage Augusta Quigley in Jupiter, Fla., at 2:55 a.m. Wednesday.
“She was crying and crying and crying,” Quigley said of his daughter, in a statement released by the PGA Tour. “The nurses handed her to me and I held her for the first time and she stopped. And then I started crying.”
Par-3 contest aced
Rory Sabbatini picked the perfect time to get his first hole-in- one. He aced the 115-yard No. 7 in the par-3 contest. It was one of two holes-in-one, with David Toms getting one on the 142-yard No. 3.
“I’ve done pretty much everything humanly possible to make a hole-in-one, so it’s nice to finally make one,” Sabbatini said. “It’s a feeling of total relief and exhilaration.”
Sabbatini used a pitching wedge. As the ball sailed toward the pin, he said it looked like it was in slow-motion. Finally, it dropped right into the hole.
The best part of all? His wife, Amy, was his caddie.
“I’ve always been worried that I would miss his first hole-in- one,” she said. “But I actually pulled the club, so I was so happy to be a part of it.”
Toms used a 9-iron and hoped the ace would be a good omen for the rest of the week.
“It was a perfect shot, and went right in,” he said. “It got the people excited, and that’s what it’s all about.”
Former champion Mark O’Meara won the par-3 contest at 5-under par, one stroke ahead of Zach Johnson. A star-studded list of players was at 3-under, including former champions Fred Couples and Ben Crenshaw.
The par-3 contest has been played since 1960, and has become a Wednesday tradition at the Masters. It brings back past champions and allows current players to have some fun before the tournament begins. But the win might not be the best omen for O’Meara. No par-3 winner has gone on to win the Masters.
Missing in action
Fans trying to get an autograph from John Daly this week are going to have to go way beyond the ropes.
The two-time major winner lost his PGA Tour card and is only playing on sponsor exemptions this year. But he’s in town signing autographs at the Hooters restaurant down the road from Augusta National.
