Rory McIlroy makes bold Olympics prediction as he arrives in Paris with Shane Lowry

Rory McIlroy has stated that winning an Olympic gold medal for Ireland would be his most significant accomplishment in the past decade . Despite spending the last 10 years pursuing a fifth major title without success, he remains hopeful.

His latest disappointment came two weeks ago in Troon when he failed to make the cut in The Open. At that time, the Olympics were not on his radar .

He chose to represent Ireland in 2014, despite previously expressing reluctance to choose between Great Britain and Ireland . Like Shane Lowry, he did not participate in the Rio Games in 2016, citing the threat of the Zika virus as the reason.

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However, his perspective changed after competing in the Covid-affected Tokyo Games and experiencing the Olympic Village's atmosphere. Despite narrowly missing out on a medal three years ago, he is now focused on winning gold.

"It would be the achievement, certainly of the year, if not...I think for me, it's well documented that I haven't won one of the big four in 10 years," he said.

"It would probably be one if, if not the biggest in my career for the last 10 years. Personally, I was close to getting a medal that time and obviously would love to try to go one or two or three better and get a medal. 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's said and done. I think as golf is in the Olympics for a longer period of time, it will become more of...I don't know if anything will be able to sit alongside the majors."

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"We have our four events a year that are the gold standard. But I think this is going to be...in time, going to be right up there amongst that."

While he is prepping hard for his game following his undesirable performance at Troon last time viewers saw him, Rory McIlroy views the Olympic course as reminiscent of a PGA Tour layout which might work in his favour.

His compatriot Shane Lowry, meanwhile, aims to absorb more of the Olympic atmosphere by watching Irish athletes compete, having already done so on Saturday. But for Rory, hes zeroed in on perfecting his game before considering attending other Olympic events.

When probed about whether he intended to partake in experiencing the Games, he focussed on preparation: "I just got in last night, so pretty focused on preparation for the next couple of days, so we'll see,".

"I don't know if I will or not this week. But I'm going to hang around for a couple of days after the golf finishes for us and spend a couple of days in Paris and then try to get to some of the other events, which will be fun."

As in Rio and Tokyo, the men's and women's events in Paris are an individual stroke play format. But McIlroy would love to see the team element come into it more.

"When golf got back in the Olympics in 2016, I think some people were surprised that it was only individual stroke play, and they didn't try to mix it up with some different formats," he said.

"So if that came to fruition in LA, where there was a mixed team event, or even another team event that was not mixed and Shane and I could play in it if we qualify, yeah, I'd love that. I think that would be a great format to bring to this competition."

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