The world’s leading golfers cited fears over the Zika virus when they opted to skip the Rio 2016 Olympics.
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Three-time major victor Padraig Harrington also shot a 67 to move him to a five-under-par total. The 34-year-old is three-under par after three rounds, while 37-year-old David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., has a score of plus-three.
Seamus Power had a disappointing day on the Brazilian links to post a three-over 74 and now sits 11 shots off the lead. He was at 12-under 201.
Canada’s Graham DeLaet and Sweden’s Henrik Stenson, the newly crowned Open champion, were tied second at five under, while Belgian’s Thomas Pieters and Rose were tied for fourth at four under.
Two eagles in three holes provided the catalyst for Team GB’s Justin Rose to take the lead in the Olympic golf competition after three rounds of play.
Also in that opening threesome was former Cal golfer and U.S. Amateur victor Byeong Hun An. Matt Kuchar had a 70 and was seven shots behind, following by Bubba Watson (67) at 2-under 140 and Patrick Reed (69) nine shots back.
The last golfer to win Olympic gold was Canadian George Lyon at the 1904 St. Louis Games.
Walking along the edge of the water on the par-5 10th hole, Stenson spotted a caiman – a small crocodile in these parts – and reached over to poke it with the end of his golf club. Bubba Watson is next best among the USA players at 2 under par and tied for 18th place. He picked up six birdies in total, and again, much like Fowler was left with reason to be disappointed by the time his round finished.
“If someone had told me I would be in this position at the start of the week, I would have told them to go somewhere”, Fraser said after completing his second round at 2-under 69 Friday.
New Zealand’s Danny Lee went one better than Pieters and Cabrera-Bello, carding four consecutive birdies to finish off a best-of-the-day 65 which lifted him 28 places up the leaderboard to five under.
South Korean An Byeong-Hun made the first bogey in golf’s return, three-putting from six feet for a six at the opening hole, but then followed with the first birdie by making a four-foot putt at the par-4 second.
Pieters, 24, who played college golf at the University of IL, has two European titles.
“But I’m pretty happy I stuck in there, managed to make plenty of par saves and give myself a chance tomorrow”.
“It would mean an very bad lot”, Rose said.
Justin Rose of Great Britain, reacts to his shot on the 18th hole during the third round of the men’s golf event at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Saturday, Aug. 13, 2016.
“I thought I could handle that”, Stenson said.
Rose described the Olympics as “more like a Ryder Cup than a major, but I don’t think it’s really like either one – it’s a unique event”.
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The Olympic course is loaded with risk/reward opportunity – Rose eagled two of the first five holes Saturday – which sets up a potentially thrilling final round. “At least I’m going to be a legend”.
