Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry relish competing again for Team Ireland at Olympic Games

By Mathieu Wood

When it comes to playing as a team in a mostly individual effort, look no further than Team Ireland at this week’s Olympic golf competition.

“I would like to think we are good for each other when we are around each other,” Shane Lowry said Tuesday of teammate Rory McIlroy. “I would like to think we are both going to perform pretty well this week.”

From their early days on the DP World Tour, to success on the PGA TOUR – including a win at this year’s Zurich Classic of New Orleans – and being on multiple Ryder Cup teams together, this duo has a robust mental scrapbook of experiences.

The same goes for the Olympics. The men’s Olympic golf competition at Le Golf National will mark their second time in Ireland’s green colors at a Summer Games, three years after they debuted at the sporting spectacle in Tokyo.

McIlroy narrowly missed out on a medal in Tokyo, losing in a seven-man playoff for the bronze medal. In the immediate aftermath, the four-time major champion said he’d never fought so hard to finish third. On the back of Ireland’s first medal thanks to swimmer Mona McSharry’s bronze on Monday evening, Lowry and McIlroy are intent on maintaining that momentum.

“It's great to get the medal tally off and running and hopefully another one tonight with Daniel (Wiffen, also a swimmer) and hopefully one of us can add one or two between us,” Lowry said. “That's the plan. That's why we're here.

“If you look at the media and what it was like back home yesterday when Mona won that bronze medal, I think if I was to win a gold medal and bring it back to Ireland, it would be pretty cool.”

“(Winning gold) would be the achievement, certainly of the year,” said McIlroy, who is familiar with this week’s venue from the Open de France and the 2018 Ryder Cup.

“It would probably be one of, if not the biggest in my career for the last 10 years. … 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 (at The Open Championship). I want to make sure I'm right where I need to be teeing off on Thursday.”

For Lowry, his second Olympic Games experience had a perfect start as he shared flagbearer duties with 100m hurdler Sarah Lavin on Friday.

“It was an amazing experience and something that I'll remember forever,” the 2019 Open champion said. “It was a big honor, and when I got there and got to experience the whole thing, yeah, memories for a lifetime. And just even being there and being around the other athletes, it was pretty cool.”

Lowry spent much of the lead-up to the procession of boats down the River Seine in and around the Olympic athlete village, immersing himself around other athletes – in particular Lavin, whose partner Craig Breen tragically died in a pre-event test ahead of a rally race last year.

“I got to know her pretty well that day, and the story and what she's been through is nothing short of incredible,” he reflected. “She gained a huge new fan that day, and I hope to see her go on and do great things next week. Yeah, just to see what people do and what other athletes go through is a pretty cool thing.”

And while preparation for the opening round is imminent, Lowry was already planning which sport he was going to attend later in the day. After all, it’s a key element of what sets competing at a Summer Games apart from the regular grind of the TOUR season.

McIlroy and Lowry are a pair to be reckoned with any week, but perhaps in a team environment, even more so in Paris.