Written by Teddy Greenstein at Chicago Tribune.com
The first round of Olympic golf since 1904 delivered a hole-in-one, ill-timed clicks of the camera, some wildlife, a course record and lots of pars (and worse) from the U.S. foursome of Bubba Watson, Rickie Fowler, Patrick Reed and Matt Kuchar.
Only Kuchar, who shot a 2-under 69, was on the kosher side of par, and he was six shots behind Australia’s Marcus Fraser.
But no matter the struggle on this windswept day, the mood of the Americans remained as bright as the red forming the lowercase “usa” on their caps.
“I really wouldn’t trade this experience for anything right now,” Fowler said despite shooting a 4-over 75, a better score than only two in the 60-player field. “Being here has been amazing. Obviously it kind of sucks not getting off to the start I wanted to, but we’re at the Olympics, the greatest sporting event in the world when you look at it in the grand scheme of things.”
The first-tee atmosphere did not have the same intensity as the Ryder Cup, but that was expected given the locale. Brazilians mainly reserve their adoration for soccer and volleyball.
Still, it was reported that 6,242 spectators attended the first round, and the crowd at the first tee was large and enthusiastic enough to give the players butterflies.
“The nerves don’t get me very many places,” Kuchar said. “Here was a little different.”
“One of the magical things about the Olympics,” observed Mike McCarley, president of the Golf Channel, “is that you know there are kids in this country or in India or Israel that will be exposed to golf who never would have been before.”
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