John Biever/SI

Sports Illustrated's Seth Davis caddied for John Rollins during Wednesday's par-3 contest.

Augusta, Ga., April 4 — Don't let him win.

That, in a four-word nutshell, was the most common advice I heard each time I shared my exciting news: I was going to caddie at Wednesday's par-3 tournament for John Rollins, who is playing in his third Masters this week. Part of Augusta National's lore is the fact that no player has ever won the par-3 tournament and the Masters in the same week. I insisted to John right before we teed off that he ignore the ghosts and do his best to win the par-3, but one of his playing partners, Lucas Glover, wasn't having it.

"If I'm 6-under on the ninth tee," Glover promised, "I'm hittin' it in the soup."

The par-3 tournament — and the lore that comes with it — is a wonderful part of this tradition unlike any other. I had gotten to know Rollins pretty well while covering golf over the years. About a year ago, he promised me that if he qualified for the Masters he'd let me caddie at the par-3 tournament. I actually expected he'd change his mind, but once he qualified, he called me and said, "Get ready to get that white jumpsuit on." He also told me he'd make me read every putt, and he'd hit the ball where I told him. So you could tell he was set on tanking it.

After I met up with John at the driving range Wednesday afternoon, his regular caddie, Dave Rawls, took me to the caddie's locker room so I could get my jumpsuit. The attendants there took my press badge as collateral, then gave me a suit replete with name tag and uniform number (9). They promised me I didn't need my credential to get around the grounds. "That suit is the only credential you'll need," they said.

There are two things about those jumpsuits you'd never know unless you put one on. The first is that they're made of heavy material that must be scorching on a hot day. The second is that they have one pocket on each side, plus a second pocket with no bottom to it. Why no bottom? So you can reach into the pockets of your real pants underneath. That, my friends, is genius.

John and I met by the chipping green so he could practice a little. Then we went to the first tee. It just so happened that the group in front of us included three golfers you may have heard of — Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Gary Player. You want to feel invisible? Walk an autograph gauntlet at Augusta National with Jack Nicklaus in front of you and Arnold Palmer behind. I could have been buck naked with an American flag painted on my chest, and nobody would have noticed.

About 15 minutes later, right after I posed for a picture with Palmer that will no doubt grace my office wall for the next 50 years, I stood right next to the tee box and watched the legendary threesome tee off. After Arnie fanned his tee shot well right, Nicklaus said, "Take a mulligan." He turned to the officials behind the tee box and said, "He can have one, can't he?" Palmer laughed, teed up a second ball and said, "This one's official." He popped it onto the front fringe.

As our group was about to tee off, I pulled Glover's caddie aside (like me, he was only a buddy filling in for Lucas's fulltime looper) and, unbeknownst to the players, we made a friendly wager: $20, straight match play, your man versus my man. So I watched with especially keen interest as Rollins fired his opening tee shot straight and true, landing five feet below the hole and then spinning down the slope. John two-putted for a three, but his tee shot on the 2nd landed on the back of the green and bounced over. Walking down the fairway he said loud enough for the gallery to hear, "What's up with that, caddie? You misclubbed me." The fans chuckled at my expense.

When we got to the 3rd green, John said, "Let's go. This is your first read. Time to get serious." I checked the line and told him that I thought it was about a ball-and-a-half on the right. After he missed it on the right side, I asked him how the line was. "Not bad," Rollins replied. "I shoved it. If you had a better player, it would've been all right."