In Tokyo, Rory McIlroy admitted he did something he had never done in all his years of competing in golf at the highest level.

McIlroy shot a final-round 67 at Kasumigaseki Country Club to end up two shots back of Xander Schauffele’s gold-medal winning number, and one back of Rory Sabbatini, the silver medalist. McIlroy competed in a seven-man playoff for bronze and was eliminated on the third extra hole.

“I’ve been saying all day I never tried so hard in my life to finish third,” McIlroy said afterwards. "It makes me even more determined going to Paris and trying to pick one up. It's disappointing going away from here without any hardware.

“It's been a great experience. Today was great day to be up there in contention for a medal, certainly had a different feeling to it than I expected, and yeah, as I said, I'm already looking forward to three years’ time and trying to go at least one better but hopefully three better."

McIlroy indeed returns to Olympic competition alongside close friend Shane Lowry representing Team Ireland. Lowry and McIlroy won the Zurich Classic of New Orleans on the PGA TOUR earlier this season together (one of two wins for McIlroy on TOUR in 2024).

“To win any PGA TOUR event is very cool, but to do it with one of your closest friends – we've known each other for a long, long time, probably like over 20 years – so to think about where we met and where we've come from, to be on this stage (and this) really, really cool journey that we've been a part of – just awesome to be able to do it alongside this guy,” McIlroy said of Lowry at the time of their win.

Lowry, who was one of Team Ireland’s flag bearers at the Opening Ceremony and had a wonderful run recently at The Open Championship, said he’s just as motivated as his countryman to take home some hardware in Paris: “I'm playing good golf, and I'd love to win a medal for Ireland. Obviously, I'd want it to be gold, but I'd probably take either three.”

But when it comes to McIlroy, there’s perhaps been no one that has so publicly proclaimed a pivot in his desire to find the Olympic podium.

When it was announced that golf would be returning to the Olympics in 2016 after more than 100 years away, McIlroy seemingly couldn’t be bothered with it. He skipped the Rio Games and paid it no mind. But after his sprint up the leaderboard in Tokyo, he addressed his comments from five years prior.

"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,” McIlroy said. “I’m excited how this week’s turned out and excited for the future.”

The future is now for McIlroy, who is hoping to parlay his fine 2024 campaign (he has an incredibly steady 13 top-25 finishes in 16 events on the PGA TOUR, is third in the FedExCup standings, third in Strokes Gained: Total and No. 3 in the Official World Golf Ranking) into a new dream come true.

“We didn't grow up dreaming of winning an Olympic medal because that just wasn't something that was on our radar,” McIlroy said earlier this year. “Major championships have always been what has been the greatest achievement in the game of golf, but once you're there and you get into that Olympic spirit, it really sort of – I don't know, something happens inside of you.

“You really get a sense for what it means to so many people […] just to be able to call yourself an Olympian. Then if you were able to win a medal, that would be incredibly special.”