RORY McILROY says an Olympic gold would represent his biggest achievement in a decade.
McIlroy and Shane Lowry will represent Ireland in golf just as they did in Tokyo when the Holywood man lost out in a play-off for bronze.
The 35-year-old had a round in St Andrew’s on Monday before flying into Paris bidding to put his disappointing performance at The Open, where he failed to make the cut, behind him.
And he outlined what it would mean to win an event at Le Golf National, where he helped Europe win the 2018 Ryder Cup.
McIlroy said: “I’d say my focus is pretty high. The last time you guys saw me, I didn’t give a very good account of myself at Troon.
“I want to make sure I’m right where I need to be teeing off on Thursday.
“I’ve been asked this question a lot, where would an Olympic Medal sit in sort of the hierarchy of my career achievements and it’s something I probably won’t be able to answer until when everything is said and done.
“I don’t know if anything will be able to sit alongside the majors. We have our four events a year that are the gold standard. But I think this is going to be — in time – right up there amongst that.
“It would be the achievement, certainly of the year.
“It’s well documented that I haven’t won one of the Big Four in ten years. It would probably be one of, if not the biggest, in my career for the last ten years.”
Lowry is also hoping to fare better than he did in Troon when he was unable to build on a strong opening two rounds and ultimately finished sixth.
The Offaly man said: “Look, I felt I had a good chance to win The Open a couple weeks ago and I was really disappointed to not give it a better go on Saturday and Sunday.
“Straightaway after that, I sort of felt like I have a chance to redeem myself here in a couple of weeks.
“If you look at the media and what it was like back home yesterday when Mona McSharry won that bronze medal, I think if I was to win a gold medal and bring it back to Ireland, yeah, it would be pretty cool.
“I was picking up my bags at the airport and I watched it on my phone. It was pretty cool.
“It’s great. It’s great to get the medal tally off and running and hopefully another one tonight with Daniel Wiffen and hopefully one of us can add one or two between us. That’s the plan. That’s why we’re here.”
Lowry savoured the Opening Ceremony on Friday despite the rain, especially as it gave him the opportunity to be in central Paris and the Olympic Village, with the golf course a considerable distance outside.
And he admitted he was in awe of his fellow flag-bearer Sarah Lavin, whose boyfriend and rally driver Craig Breen tragically died in a collision in Croatia in April 2023.
Lowry said: “We tried to stay a bit dry at the start of those but it was one of those, ‘Well, we’re wet now, might as well enjoy it’.
“As the boat ride went down the crowds got bigger and bigger and honestly was just soaking it all in, enjoying the atmosphere, and trying to spot the Irish people in the crowd. There were a lot of Irish flags.
“When you get down past all the sites in Paris and then towards the Eiffel Tower, it’s kind of a bit of a surreal experience.
“And it was nice to kind of be in the Village for a day and hang out with some people.
“I spent the whole day with Sarah Lavin. I got to know her pretty well that day and the story and what she’s been through is nothing short of incredible.
“She gained a huge new fan that day and I hope to see her go on and do great things next week. To see what people do and what other athletes go through is a pretty cool thing.”
OPEN TO CHANGE
McIlroy said he would be open to golf being turned into a team or mixed event at future Olympics.
But the pair insisted that the event was not devalued by not having players such as US Open winner Bryson Dechambeau here, because only two competitors per country are allowed.
The world no 3 said: “I think that’s the nature of qualification for the Olympics. I mean, you could have the fifth-best sprinter in the world but if he’s from a certain country, he’s not able to make it.
“So I think it’s just the way that the qualification works in the Olympic Games, and that’s not just in golf. That’s in other disciplines, as well.”
And Lowry added: “Like Rory said, you watch other sports, that’s the way it is. If you don’t run the time and don’t qualify, you’re not in. I
“You watch the American nationals, it’s the biggest race of the year, the Jamaican nationals in the sprint. If they run a bad race, even though they might be one of the best in the world, they are not here competing.
“I know we are not used to that in golf where the biggest events have the best fields.
“There is a few players maybe that would make it better, but it’s still the Olympics and we’ve all qualified to play for our country and we’re all here to win a medal.”
And McIlroy insisted there was no way other than the rankings – for which LIV tournaments do not earn points – to decide qualification.
He said: “I don’t think there’s any other way to do it because it’s hard to compare the golf that they play to the golf that we play. That’s the reason they didn’t get World Ranking points, right?
“So if you want to qualify for the Olympics, you knew what you had to do. Just like if you wanted to qualify for the Ryder Cup, you knew what you had to do. They were very aware of the decision they made when they did.”