Golf Has a New Hero: Rory McIlroy's 4-Year-Old

It seems that Rory McIlroy's daughter is a chip off the old block. The Masters begins Thursday at Georgia's Augusta National club, but the pro athlete from Northern Ireland was out on the greens on Wednesday for the Par 3 Contest that usually kicks off the annual golf tournament, per USA Today. Joining McIlroy for the family-friendly event: his 4-year-old daughter, Poppy, who showed off her genetics by sinking a long putt that got the crowd roaring, reports People.

Video shows the hushed environment as Poppy lightly tapped the ball in front of her, but the silence waned as the ball crawled at a snail-slow speed toward the hole. And then—the ball fell into the hole, earning Poppy applause and cheers from the audience, McIlroy's playing partner Shane Lowry, and, of course, her dad, who gave the seemingly overwhelmed Poppy a big hug. "Perfect speed on the putt," ESPN said in an X post. (More Rory McIlroy stories.)