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Rose hits historic ace, Aussie leads as golf returns

“I imagine people in Brazil think it’s amusing that we go ogling over something that is a little more normal to them”, Kuchar said.

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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.

Australian Marc Fraser set the pace with an 8-under-par 63 on the Olympic Golf Course, the U.S., the only team with four players in the field of 60, had just Matt Kuchar under par at 69.

However, the lack of a runaway gold medalist early on, a course that features a closing par-5 (always good for late drama) and some golfers capable of producing scores in the mid-to-low 60s should produce some intriguing golf come Sunday when medals are on the line.

“At the moment I’ve got the Olympic record”. “I felt like I swung it really well at the PGA [Championship], and same thing here, didn’t really make putts to build up momentum or get into a good rhythm. I blew so many putts by”. Patrick Reed made three bogeys in a four-hole stretch after making the turn and shot 72. With a freshening wind he bogeyed 14 and 15 but rallied to birdie the final two holes, finishing off a 64 that is the second lowest score of the week.

“I’m glad they decided not to come”, Fraser said. “It will probably be better tomorrow”, Fowler said.

The trip was taking so long I was convinced all the golfers would be gone by the time we arrived, forcing me to start rooting for the windows of the bus to be shattered by anything – gunfire, a rock, shrapnel from an exploding toilet – just so I’d have something to write about.

Marcus Fraser of Australia watches his putt on the 16th hole during the first round of the men’s golf event at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, Aug. 11, 2016.

“He’s bringing juniors and athletes and motocross kids because he did motocross as a kid”, Kelley said. “Playing for the flag is a little bit different than playing for cash or ranking points”. This week, you have 60 guys playing, and we are all winners.”. There also isn’t much out here to block the wind, other than the capybaras and caimans, and they’re too busy trying to avoid the advancing horde of media.

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The free-swinging lefty drained his second shot on the par-4 third hole after spinning back a wedge shot.

Rickie Fowler