The second day of golf at the 2016 Rio Olympics golf tournament saw a lot of movement up and down the leaderboard, though Australia’s Marcus Fraser is still in the lead.
Going into Friday’s Round 2 action in the 2016 Rio Olympics golf event, Australia’s Marcus Fraser held a three-shot lead. After firing an 8-under-63 in the opening round, he needed to make sure he played solid enough to hold on, and he did just that. Fraser carded a 1-under-70, heading into the weekend in sole possession of first place.
Belgium’s Thomas Pieters, who played solid in Round 1, continued to chase Fraser on Friday. After posting a 4-under-67 on Day 1, Pieters followed up with a 5-under-66, moving into second place in the event. He appears ready to challenge for the gold medal this weekend.
Henrik Stenson, the Swedish golfer who won the 2016 Open Championship, continued his solid play on Friday. Stenson was steady despite the weather, finishing the day with a 3-under-68. For the tournament, Stenson is now -8, and is the only two shots off the lead.
The best round of the day belonged to Danny Lee of New Zealand, who went really low, erasing his 1-over-72 from Thursday. Lee moved up 28 spots on the leaderboard after shooting a 65 (-6 under par) and is now -5 for the tournament. He is tied for sixth place heading into the weekend.
Justin Rose, who made the first hole-in-one in modern Olympics history on Thursday, continued his solid play Friday. After finishing the day four-under, Rose is now tied for fourth with Gregory Bourdy of France. Bourdy had a nice round himself on Friday, posting a score of 2-under-69.
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Golf is returning to the Olympics for the first time since 1904 when the Games were hosted by St. Louis, Missouri. Despite the fact that the top four golfers in the world are not in the field, the tournament has been stellar so far, and should only intensify this weekend.
The men head back to the course on Saturday, as Round 3 action is slated to kick off at 6:30am ET. The men’s competition will end on Sunday.