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.