At 5-under through two rounds, Day continues to lead the way for the Australian team, while Min Woo Lee showed tremendous spirit with one of the rounds of the day in Round 2 to make significant inroads on the leaderboard.

Tokyo 2020 gold medallist Xander Schauffele (66), Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama (68) and Great Britain’s Tommy Fleetwood (64) are tied for the lead at 11-under, two clear of Spain’s Jon Rahm (66).

Day six strokes back in a tie for 13th after a round of 3-under 68 that could have been a number of strokes better.

For the second straight day, the Queenslander opened with a birdie at the par-4 first and backed it up with a second birdie at the par-5 third.

After a run of seven consecutive pars, he picked up shots at the par-3 11th and par-4 13th, his only stumble a bogey after finding the water with his tee shot at the par-3 16th.

Admitting that he gave up shots by not making birdie at the par-5 ninth and 14th holes on Friday, Day knows that little needs to change to be hunting a medal come Sunday.

“It would have been nice to be able to capitalise on the par-5s a little bit more,” said Day, who can expect massive crowds again in Round 3 having been drawn to play with Northern Ireland superstar Rory McIlroy and Canadian Corey Conners.

“There’s only three of them, so just poor drives on 9 and 14. Other than that, it was nice work today.

“You’re trying to push, you know what I mean. You want to pick up a medal.

“I’m currently six back so we have some work to do over the weekend.”

Given the disappointment of his opening round it was an admirable performance from Lee in Round 2.

Only four players returned a scorecard better than the West Australian’s 6-under 65, elevating him 24 spots and into a tie for 34th at 1-under par.

It was a somewhat nervy start when his tee shot on one found the rough to the right of the fairway and his second came up short and right of the green.

The 26-year-old showed wonderful touch to get up-and-down and save par and then hit a laser-like iron to set up birdie at the par-3 second.

It would be the first of three straight – he narrowly missed making eagle on three – to ignite a run that he needs to maintain to bring the leading groups closer into view.

“The medal count is a long way away, I feel like these guys are good,” Lee said of the 10-shot gap between he and the leaders.

“They are probably not going to slow down so I would need to play even better than today.

“It just shows that I can shoot a low score, which is needed.

“Two more rounds like this would be very pleasing.”

After draining putts of around 30 feet for birdie at both two and four, Min Woo almost didn’t need the putter at all at the par-3 16th.

Taking dead aim, the West Australian brought the enormous galleries to their feet when his tee shot rattled the bottom of the flag before rolling back some eight feet.

He duly converted that chance to get to 5-under on his round and then made a final birdie on 17 for an 11-shot turnaround on the previous day.

“That was a good shot. It looked so pure,” Lee said of his near hole-in-one.

“It was a good club for a pitching wedge. I hit it really good and it was into the wind so it obviously ended up being a good shot.

“I thought it looked very close to dunking. It hit the pin a foot up. It was close.”

Lee tees off in Round 3 at 10:22am local time Saturday (6:22pm AEST) with Day getting his round underway at 11:44am (7:44pm AEST).

Tony Webeck is on site at Le Golf National as media liaison for the Australian team.

Day and Lee were out in some of the first groups of Round 1 golf for Paris 2024, and as they crossed the walkway to the first tee, both competitors were astounded by what they saw.

The enormous crowds lining the fairways seemed to inspire Day as he began his round with an opening birdie. His Aussie teammate hit his second shot into the water, a portent of the struggles to come.

A birdie on the final hole was one of the few bright spots in Lee’s round of 5-over 76, while Day was inside the top-10 until the final stages.

Making a double bogey on 18 for a round of 2-under 69, attributing it to two “uncommitted swings”, Day is six shots back of Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama (8-under), the first player on the range at Le Golf National last Saturday, with defending Olympic champion Xander Schauffele (65) just two shots off the lead.

There were 13 different nationalities within the top-14 when play was suspended due to lightning. Day left disappointed that he couldn’t keep the Aussie flag flying quite so high

“It’s just two uncommitted swings,” was Day’s frank assessment of his final hole.

“Just back off, readjust, and hit it again. Just don’t hit a shot you’re not committed to and pay the price for it.”

Open since selection about his regret at skipping the Rio Olympic Games, the Queenslander was taken aback by the emotions he experienced at the start of his round.

“The first couple of holes caught me off guard quite a lot actually,” he said.

“I was quite nervous standing over the first tee shot and then it took me a few holes to get over it.

“This is the most nervous I’ve felt standing on a tee box wearing a set of clothes that I’m wearing for the first time.

“It’s a good feeling because it just shows that it means a lot to me.”

Min Woo was also struck by his emotions on the first tee as he joined sister, Minjee, as an Australian Olympian.

“I never really feel it on the first hole but, emotionally, I felt it on the first hole when I got announced,” Lee said.

“That just shows how much it means to me.

“I nearly had a tear in my eye, which is not normal.”

Former world no.1 Day’s bright start suffered a setback when he three-putted the par-3 second to drop back to even par but he was in red figures again with a birdie on three.

He moved to 2-under with a birdie on the par-4 fifth and closed out his front nine with a superb chip shot to set up birdie at the par-5 ninth.

A bogey on 12 saw Day move back to 2-under but he charged into a tie for seventh with birdies at 14 and 16.

Day was in a tie for 23rd and Lee tied for 59th when lightning again halted play with 12 players still to complete their opening rounds before play was resumed a little over an hour later, with the Day sharing 21^st and Lee remaining T59 heading into the final day.

Min Woo will begin Round 2 on Friday at 7:33pm AEST with Day to tee off two groups later at 7:55pm AEST.

Tony Webeck is on site at Le Golf National as media liaison for the Australian team.