Rory McIlroy was in crazy seven-way play-off for bronze after Olympics U-turn and has great memories of Paris venue as he eyes gold

Rory McIlroy was infamously not a fan of Olympic golf but will now be eyeing gold in Paris after just missing out on a medal last time around.

After pulling out of the 2016 Rio Games, McIlroy said golf did not ‘matter’ at the Olympics and he wouldn’t be tuning into the action in Brazil.

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Four years later, he had performed a stunning U-turn before saying he had ‘never tried so hard to finish third’ after narrowly missing out on a bronze medal in Tokyo.

McIlroy will be donning the Irish green alongside great friend Shane Lowry at the upcoming Paris Olympics and will be eager to top the podium after a difficult year.

McIlroy let the Masters and PGA Championship past him by in the spring, before suffering heartbreak at the US Open and then missing the cut completely at the recent Open.

It’s been a tumultuous season for the 35-year-old from County Down but he now heads back to Olympics with some great memories to call upon.

As Open champion Xander Schauffele claimed gold in Tokyo three years ago, McIlroy was involved in a crazy seven-way battle for bronze.

Hideki Matsuyama and Team GB’s Paul Casey stumbled in the first hole of the play-off before McIlroy, Sebastian Munoz and Mito Pereira were all eliminated on the third extra hole.

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And as Collin Morikawa bowed out on the fourth hole of the bronze medal play-off, CT Pan of Chinese Taipei claimed third.

After his near-miss, a pumped-up McIlroy said: “It makes me even more determined going to Paris and try to pick a medal up. It’s disappointing going away from here without any hardware. I’ve been saying all day I never tried so hard in my life to finish third.

“It has been a great experience, today was a great day to be up there in contention for a medal, certainly had a different feeling to it than I expected.

“As I said, I’m already looking forward to three years’ time and trying to go at least one better but hopefully three better.

“I made some comments before that were probably uneducated and impulsive, but coming here experiencing it, seeing, feeling everything that goes on, not just Olympic golf but just the Olympics in general, that sort of Olympic spirit’s definitely bitten me and I’m excited how this week’s turned out and excited for the future.”

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As well as defending champion and Schauffele, golf superstars Morikawa, Scottie Scheffler, Ludvig Aberg, Viktor Hovland and Jon Rahm will also be teeing it up in Paris.

Team GB are set to be represented by Tommy Fleetwood and Matt Fitzpatrick this year.

McIlroy, of course, will also be among the favourites to win gold in a stacked field for the men’s event.

And while his competition may be fierce, he has some great memories to call upon at the French venue – Le Golf National.

McIlroy was a key part of the European team that demolished the USA in the 2018 Ryder Cup.

He played all five matches at the event, showcased some brilliant golf around the tricky course, and was involved in one of the best singles matches of all time in his 18th-hole defeat to Justin Thomas.

He’ll return to Guyancourt hoping to replicate some of his fine play from 2018 and will be buoyed by having Lowry alongside him.

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The duo won the Zurich Classic of New Orleans together in April and Lowry, who starred at The Open in Royal Troon last weekend, is excited to team up with again.

Lowry said: “It’s great to be going back there with Rory. My first experience in Tokyo was amazing and it feeds you with the hunger of wanting to do it again and to come back and give it a better shot this time.

“A lot of what I’ve talked about and done this year has been geared towards the Olympics in Paris. I have always said that I’d love to bring a medal back to Ireland, and that’s my number one goal.”

Ireland have a great chance of medalling in the golf in Paris and it would mark quite the turnaround for McIlroy should it be him taking home the gold.

The Olympics are on talkSPORT this summer, and you can tune in via our free online streaming service at talkSPORT.com