Jason Day stayed home. So did Adam Scott.
Matt Jones, too.
That opened the door for the lesser of the Aussie golfers — No. 90 in the world Marcus Fraser got a ticket to play in the Olympic Games for The Land Down Under.
Fraser did Australia proud on Thursday in Rio with an eight-under par 63 that set a new Olympic golf record, an easy feat considering no one broke 80 when it was last contested 112 years ago.
“Probably one of the best rounds of golf I’ve ever played, considering the circumstances,” said Fraser, a regular on the European Tour. “My kids will wake up in a state of shock to see that their old man is leading the Olympics.”
If Fraser is an unlikely leader then Canadian Graham DeLaet is an unlikely contender just three shots back with 65. DeLaet shaved off his lumberjack beard and hidden underneath it was his golf game.
The likely contender and man most likely to wear gold come Sunday is right there, tied with DeLaet at five-under. Henrik Stenson played late in the day when the winds blew in off the Atlantic Ocean and made the going tougher for those later tee times. Fraser was out very early and didn’t hit the wind until his last five or six holes.
“I played a very solid round of golf, it’s certainly not easy out there,” said the Open champion from Sweden.
Justin Rose was one of five players in at four-under par and he had the shot of the day when the holed a seven-iron from 189 yards for an ace at the par three fourth, another Olympic first. “I thought it was tough out there, the greens were quicker than in practice. It was intense out there but I felt up for it,” said Rose.
The day was a huge disappointment for the Americans.
Rickie Fowler floundered with 75, Bubba Watson wasn’t much better with 73. Patrick Reed’s 72 left him one-over par while Matt Kuchar was the only one of the bunch to break par. His two-under par 69 left him tied for 11th with five other players including Spain’s Sergio Garcia.
In all, more than half of the 60-man field shot par or better, leaving no excuses for the Americans.
