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Hampshire golf star Justin Rose makes Olympic history in Rio

The second round of the men’s Olympic golf competition started out with rainy, soggy conditions Friday. Those were the days before scorecards, when golfers had to record the score on parchment with their own blood-before the great technological advancement of miniature pencils.

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Hend’s birdie on the 10th was in marked contrast to the five over 10 he shot on the same hole 24 hours earlier.

The International Golf Federation tapped into what few Olympic roots it has Monday by selecting Adilson da Silva to tee off first at Rio 2016. The only way anyone else could forge their way into the field in Rio was to get inside the top 15 in the world rankings.

Olympics: Louise Ransome has some little-known facts about the golf event at the Rio Olympics.

Rose, a 36-year-old Englishman ranked 12th in the world, shared fourth with France’s Gregory Bourdy, German Alex Cejka, Spain’s Rafael Cabrera Bello and Belgium’s Thomas Pieters.

The men’s tournament will wrap up on Sunday, with the top three lowest scores earning medals.

But this was hardly a masterpiece. He hit into the water on the next hole and still had a full 4-wood just to reach the front part of the green.

But the 38-year-old made the most of his opportunity to card nine birdies and a solitary bogey in an eight-under-par 63 which left him three ahead of Stenson and Canada’s Graham DeLaet.

“You’re just standing there praying for a 2-putt bogey”.

“It’s the longest putt I’ve made in my career”. Just 1 under after his first nine, Lee fired a bogey-free 31 on the back with five birdies, including four in a row to end his day. Fowler shot a 75, beating only two players – Rodolfo Cazaubon of Mexico and Lin Wen-Tang of Taiwan.

Fraser shot a 2-under 69 in Round 2 with four birdies and two bogeys on his scorecard. The ball bounced three times on the green, then backspun into the flagstick and dropped into the cup.

The lead books Fraser a tee time with Pieters and Stenson for the third round but he says he isn’t daunted by the prospect of playing with two of the game’s most powerful players. “All in all, happy with that. That’s pretty cool. This is one of the best rounds I’ve ever played, given the circumstances”.

The sport’s return to the Olympics has many detractors who believe neither needs the other.

“I t was really fun”, former US Open champion Rose said after a four-under 67.

The sixty Olympic golfers tee it up for round two tomorrow at 7:30 a.m.

Quote of the day: “It’s the Olympics”. The Australian caught only a little of the nasty weather, and it didn’t last long before the sun came out.

The players will be regrouped for the third round in order of their position on the leaderboard, meaning Fraser, Pieters and Stenson will go off in the final group on Saturday.

Matt Kuchar was the best of the four Americans completing his round at two-under par.

Rickie Fowler was still near the bottom.

Be Civil – It’s OK to have a difference in opinion but there’s no need to be a jerk.

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“You know, we got to hold it”.

After 112 years golf makes quiet return to Games