MARCUS Fraser has set out a high standard for his Rio rivals – carding a stellar 63 in his opening round as golf returned to the Olympics after 112 years.
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The Corowa golfer had nine birdies en route to an eight under score which gave him the first round lead, three strokes ahead of Canadian Graeme De Laet and Swede Henrik Stenson.
"I've got the Olympic record," Fraser said.
"That's pretty cool, and hopefully that lasts all week."
The world No.90 lapped up the opportunity to tackle the Olympic course with his caddy Jason Wallis, a life-long mate from Corowa.
"Just standing there next to Jase, my caddy….and I hit the first tee shot and we were walking down the first fairway and I said to him 'we're actually Olympians now'," Fraser said.
"I never thought either of us would say that, but it's pretty cool having him there with me."
Fraser, 38, was able to take advantage of favourable conditions with the wind flaring for groups later in the day.
“There’s a long way to go yet, but that was a dream start and I felt like I really deserved to play well,” Fraser said.
“Eight under is a great score ... but we play 72 holes for our tournament, not just 18, so there’s a long way to go.
“We played the first six holes with just a little bit of breeze, then it gradually picked up and the last seven-eight holes was a good test, that’s for sure."
The veteran of Melbourne's sandbelt courses said he was at home in the conditions.
“It’s a brilliant course, it reminds me a lot of the Melbourne sandbelt and that’s obviously where I play a lot of my golf," Fraser said.
“(Course architect) Gil Hanse has done a great job and there’s a lot of strategy to the golf course, which we like.”
Fraser's spectacular start saw his odds slashed from $151 to $11 by the TAB betting group.
He was on the third in the betting before the second round, behind British Open champion Stenson on $3 and Brit Justin Rose ($7.50), who scored a hole-in-one in the first round.
Fraser, who has been joined by his wife Carlie in Rio, was buoyed by the support of compatriots.
"There was a lot of Aussies out there yelling and screaming towards the end...and they probably dragged me along and spurred me along to finish off the round really well," he said.
