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.
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Australian Fraser was a surprise overnight leader after carding an opening 63 and his second-round 69 kept him at the summit on 10 under, with Thomas Pieters of Belgium only a stroke behind following an impressive 66.
Here are five things we learned from a soggy day in Rio.
“He [Matthew McConaughey] was following Rickie [Fowler], he loves his golf”.
Masters champion Danny Willett was another player to birdie the final three holes as he also closed on one under along with two-time Augusta victor Bubba Watson, but Rickie Fowler remained on four over after a 71 littered with four bogeys, including three in a row from the 11th. Bubba went even better again, closing with a birdie for a four-under 67 and pushing him all the way up the leaderboard to a tie for 18th at two-under overall. He appears ready to challenge for the gold medal this weekend. “Yeah, we’ve always followed each other on social media”, Fowler said, “and we linked up this week and we’ve been texting”.
While unable to reproduce the front nine fireworks of Thursday, the Corowa native was steady on the outward loop with two birdies to make the turn 10-under and leading by three. “I know he’s flying out this afternoon”. Fowler, unfortunately, sits tied for 50th at 4 over.
Typically it’s all business at golf tournaments, but Rose has found that enjoying the atmosphere and meeting others from the Great Britain Olympic scene has been a benefit.
Pieters, a 24-year-old Belgian, made two short birdie putts after making an 18-footer at the first. According to his website, this year alone the 6-foot-5 snowboarding enthusiast has traveled 2.42 times around the globe, spanning 96,894 kilometers and hitting tournament sites in the Middle East, Europe, Asia and America. Still, barring a big comeback this weekend they seem to be out of contention, putting NBC golf commentators in a bit of a tough spot.
“You’re just standing there, praying for a two-putt bogey”.
Golf is returning to the Olympics for the first time since 1904 when the Games were hosted by St. Louis, Missouri.
If the tournament ended right now, Fraser, Pieters and Stenson would be on the podium. On Friday, he had a 68 to go into the weekend at Olympic Golf Course just two shots behind and in the final group. Kuchar would have done the same had he not missed a bunny on 17.
England’s Justin Rose and France’s Gregory Bourdy are tied for fourth, four strokes off the lead. He’ll be chased this weekend by Pieters, a 24-year-old two-time European Tour victor, and Sweden’s Stenson, the reigning Champion Golfer of the Year who’s less than a month removed from his Open win.
Television cameras were focused on a ruling taking place in a bunker on the third hole at the Olympic Golf Course when Stenson, seemingly miles from the cup, rolled in his putt for an unlikely par.
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“I felt like I putted very similar to yesterday”, said Fraser. “First of all it’s hard to get a putt that long on any green in the world; maybe on the double greens at St Andrews you can find one”.
