“Just the ball found a way to avoid the holes”, said Fraser, who needed four fellow countrymen to opt out of the Olympics to make it to Rio. Masters champion Danny Willett didn’t quite crack the top 10, but a 69 moved him to three-under and an outside chance at a bronze medal on Sunday.
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After an unbelievable first round, Frasier was solid again on Friday, but he did miss a few chances to post an even lower number than his 69. He finished his round with seven birdies and two bogeys. He reached the green but shorted his putts for birdie on each of those holes, settling for par tap-ins that were less than two feet in distance each.
“It was an interesting start and an interesting finish, just a bit of ordinary golf in the middle”, said Stenson, who mixed three birdies with two bogeys over the last five holes to close on eight under.
Stenson’s 68 kept him in close quarters in spite of occasional wide shots throughout the 18 holes on Saturday.
The big hitting Queenslander made a 10 at the par-5 on his way to a 3-over 74 but fought back on Friday with a solid round of 2-under to be T36.
After birdies on his first two holes, Stenson came close to throwing away his excellent effort with a almost disastrous third hole.
The lasting memory of its debut was Rose and Stenson going at it for more than five hours, neither with more than a one-stroke advantage the entire round. However, an excellent drive onto the green that traveled 240 yards set up Stenson 36 yards outside the hole.
The bogey wasn’t enough to take the silver away from Stenson.
Pieters made up a lot of ground in a hurry by driving just through the green on the 16th for a two-putt birdie from 75 feet, holing a 15-foot birdie on the 17th and then two-putting from just off the green on the par-5 18th.
Justin Rose fought through a heavy breeze Saturday to take the third-round lead at the men’s Olympic golf competition in Rio after firing a 6-under 65 to get to 12 under. “With all the stuff going on this week, even if you’re just sitting in your room watching the other events on TV, you’re so focused on the unbelievable experience this is that you’re not even going to focus on golf that much off the course”. The 24-year-old Belgian birdied his first three holes and his last three holes Friday.
Three more birdies and a bogey on the back nine ensured the Englishman finds himself in prime position to claim the gold medal on Sunday. Patrick Reed us at 1 under. He sits at a 1-under 141.
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On a fine day, the Olympic Golf Course poses few challenges to the caliber of players at the Rio Olympics, and even with less than ideal conditions birdies were flying across the par-71 layout, with 29 of the 60 players finishing in the negative. He will need a miracle to boost himself into medal contention, as he now sits twelve shots out of third place, and fourteen out of the gold medal slot.
