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Friday, March 29, 2024

Straka leads Olympic golf on day of low scoring, surprises | Entertainment

KAWAGOE, Japan (AP) — Rikuya Hoshino did not have the first tee to himself Thursday for the start of Olympic golf.

The grandstand behind him, normally empty like at so many other venues at the spectator-less Games, was filled with volunteers in their Tokyo2020 shirts wanting to see the 25-year-old from Japan with the honor of hitting the first shot in the pandemic-delayed Olympics.

The other two players with him in the first group, Sepp Straka of Austria and Thomas Pieters of Belgium, took it from there.

Straka picked a good day to be dialed in with his irons in soft and still conditions. He made four birdies in his last six holes for an 8-under 63 to tie an Olympic record — not all that historical considering golf returned only in 2016 — for a one-shot lead over Jazz Janewattananond of Thailand.

Pieters, who finished one spot out of a bronze medal…

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