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It took an Aussie journeyman to lift the first golf tournament at the Olympic Games in 112 years.
The 38-year-old Marcus Fraser carded nine birdies and a bogey is his brilliant eight-under 63 to lead Open Champion Henrik Stenson, and Canadian Graham DeLaet, by three shots.
Fraser turned pro in 2002, and won his first European Tour tournament a year later with the Russian Open.
It took another seven years before Fraser again lifted a trophy – the Ballantine Championship, and another six years before his most recent success – the inaugural Maybank Championship in Malaysia in February.
For Fraser it seems there’s a long time between celebratory drinks.
But overnight he fired in a career-best 63, beating the 64 he carded during a play-off loss to Danny Willett in the 2012 BMW International Open in Cologne.
With the highest-ranked Aussies – Jason Day, Adam Scott, and Marc Leishman – not interested in playing in Rio for various reasons, Fraser, who is ranked 90 in the world, has stood up to be counted.
As a television viewer, the course looked as boring as hell with flat fairways and no trees. But when you shoot a course record 63, you are entitled to say what you like.
The top four in the world – Day, Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth, and Rory McIlroy – along with Scott ranked seven, and South African Brandon Grace ranked ten, aren’t in Rio.
That’s 60 per cent, but it’s also 60 per cent of the top 20 with Phil Mickelson (13), Brooks Koepka (15), Louis Oosthuizen (16), Jimmy Walker (17), Russell Knox (18), and Hideki Matsuyama (19) also missing.
It was left to Justin Rose to make history with the first hole-in-one on his way to a 67.
Martin Kaymer (69), and Sergio Garcia (69), are reasonably in touch, but it’s a long way back for Willett (71), Patrick Reed (72), Bubba Watson (73), and Rickie Fowler (75).
The leading scores after the first round:
63 – Marcus Fraser.
66 – Henrik Stenson, Graham DeLaet.
67 – Justin Rose, Alex Cejka, Gregory Bourdy, Thomas Pieters, Rafa Cabrera Bello.
68 – Byeong Hun An, Nicholas Colsaerts.