Garrick Higgo bogeyed the last hole on Thursday to finish the opening round of the Olympic Games golf at Kasumigaseki Country Club in Saitama, Japan at level-par 71 in a share of 41st place.
After a weather delay had disrupted the first round, Higgo was able to get the first round completed, but, after making birdie on the 14th to get to one-under, he gave that shot back on the last hole to finish the first round eight shots off the lead held by Sepp Straka of Austria.
On a day in which none of the heavily favoured players was able to get a stranglehold on proceedings, the best of the so-called top players in what is a contest anyone can win was Jhonattan Vegas on five-under, followed by England’s Paul Casey on four-under.
The best of the much-vaunted American challenge came from Xander Schauffele, who was on three-under in a share of 12th, together with the other South African in the field, Christiaan Bezuidenhout.
Zimbabwe’s Scott Vincent closed at two-over for a share of 52nd in the 60-man field, and Slovakia’s Rory Sabbatini, formerly of South Africa, was on two-under in a share of 20th.
