Marcus Fraser: Did you know…
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Compatriot Scott Hend was also tracking for a superb round by turning at three-under but a 10 on the par-five 10th saw him plummet down the leaderboard.
The Queenslander recovered to finish at three-over, tied for 50th.
The bounce in Fraser’s step was unmistakeable as he laughed: “We were just saying: “I’ve got the Olympic record”.
While only the controversial withdrawals of Jason Day, Adam Scott and two other Australians allowed him to play, Fraser has fully embraced golf’s return to the Olympics after 112 years.
The Corowa champ, who leads the Asian Tour’s 2016 order of merit, began with a birdie, but immediately let it slip with what turned out to be his only blemish on the second.
DeLaet was aware of the Canadian connection as he flexed his competitive muscles with an outstanding round of 66, five-under-par and observed: “We said as we were walking off the first tee that this is pretty cool – the first time in over a hundred years – and we’re the lead group”.
Even when Fraser found potential trouble in sand on the long par-four 11th, his deft hands ensured a clinical par save to keep the momentum rolling. “It was probably the best drive I’d hit all week”.
“I’ve been lucky enough to play a few good rounds along the way but that was the most special, I must say”, he said.
“(Course architect) Gil Hanse has done a great job and there’s a lot of strategy to the golf course, which we like”.
Under overcast skies and in calm conditions ideal for scoring, Da Silva was welcomed to the first tee by a smattering of applause and the whirl from hundreds of cameras as media and officials greatly outnumbered fans sprinkled through a small almost empty stand.
Meanwhile, Team GB’s Justin Rose wrote his own little piece of Olympics history by recording what is believed to be the first-ever hole-in-one in the Games.
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But the expected American charge, with four big-name representatives didn’t eventuate.
