Golf fans were guaranteed to see some history on Thursday no matter what as golf returned to the Olympics for the first time in 112 years.
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Great Britain’s Rose also made a big impact, punching the air after becoming the first golfer to hole an ace in the Olympics at the 191-yard par-three fourth and is among five players on four under. Rose won the most recent of his 19 career titles last October at Hong Kong.
World No 1 Jason Day, Adam Scott, Marc Leishman and Matt Jones all decided against competing in Rio, and Fraser said: “I’m glad they decided not to come”.
The 36-year-old Englishman is thought to have the first hole-in-one in Olympic history, with his shot sending Games records-keepers scurrying to the archives to find out for certain.
Stenson’s enthusiasm has not been shared by all of the world’s top players, with more than 20 opting out of the Games due to a range of issues including the Zika virus, security concerns, a packed tournament schedule and even to concentrate on maintaining playing rights on the PGA Tour.
“It felt like I needed to get off to a fast start”, Fraser said. Eighth-ranked Rickie Fowler was on 75 with fellow American Bubba Watson, a two-time Masters champion ranked sixth, on 73 and their 14th-ranked compatriot Petrick Reed on 72. This week is something I will look back on in later life as really special.
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Joining da Silva in the opening threesome will be Graham DeLaet of Canada, which IGF President Peter Dawson referred to as the “defending champion” at the Olympics Games. It was just a couple of busy days, a little bit of rest with the family and then straight back into the next major.
