On a historic Day 1 at the Olympic Golf Course in Rio de Janeiro, Marcus Fraser earned a three-stroke lead in the first round of golf played in the Games since 1904.
Fraser shot 8-under 63 on the Gil Hanse-designed course to take a three-shot lead over British Open winner Henrik Stenson and Canadian Graham DeLaet heading into Friday’s second round of the 72-hole, individual event.
“We said before walking here, at the moment, you’ve got the Olympic record,” Fraser said. “That’s pretty cool. So hopefully that lasts all week.”
DeLaet was the second player to tee off in the 60-player event, a wink to George Lyon, who won the gold medal in the 1904 Olympic golf competition in St. Louis.
“You know, we do this for a living week‑in and week‑out, but there was something different about that first tee shot today,” DeLaet said after the round. “It was a different announcement for us, and it was just a really cool feeling.”
Five players sit a shot behind in a tie for fourth place, including Justin Rose, who made the first Olympic golf hole-in-one on Thursday, Thomas Pieters of Belgium, Frenchman Gregory Bourdy, German Alex Cejka and Spaniard Rafa Cabrera-Bello.
Among players representing the United States, the only country to send a maximum allotment of four players to the men’s competition, Matt Kuchar, who didn’t know the format of the competition until told by the media last week in Connecticut, is tied for 11th place at 2 under par.
“Teeing off in particular, I think I was the first American to tee off today,” Kuchar said. “To hear my name announced as an Olympian and to go tee off, there were a few more butterflies than I anticipated on the first tee.”
Patrick Reed shot 1 over, Bubba Watson was 2 over and Rickie Fowler is tied for 56th place at 4 over par.
Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.
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