“I started to resent it,” said a disheartened Rory McIlroy back in 2016 while alluding to the Olympics. He had expressed how complicated the whole situation was to play for either Great Britain or Ireland while being unable to play for Northern Ireland. However, fast forward five years to the Tokyo Olympics and the 35-year-old golfer seemed to have made up his mind to represent Ireland for good. The same is the case this time around as well. But, it’s not as if he’s alone in doing so. Enter the rest of the Irish golfers!

A total of four athletes, as per the Olympic Federation of Ireland, are representing the country at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Shane Lowry will accompany McIlroy in fighting for the medal at the men’s event while Leona Maguire and Stephanie Meadow will do so at the women’s event which will tee off on August 7.

Which golfers are representing Ireland at the 2024 Paris Olympics?

1. Rory McIlroy: The 35-year-old is a common name in every golf fan’s household, all thanks to the incredible career the golfer boasts. He boasts 26 wins on the PGA Tour, including 4 major victories. However, he could only finish at T4 owing to a seven-man sudden-death playoff between him and six other athletes, including C.T. Pan, Collin Morikawa, Mito Pereira, Juan Sebastian Munoz Amaya, Hideki Matsuyama, and Paul Casey. The bronze medal, meanwhile, was clinched by C.T. Pan, who emerged victorious at the playoffs. Who knows, 2024 might be the year Rory McIlroy gets his first Olympic medal.

2. Shane Lowry: “My first experience in Tokyo was amazing, and it feeds you with the hunger of wanting to do it again,” said a hopeful Lowry after earning a spot on the team. The golfer had, back then, placed at T22 alongside four other athletes with a score of 274 after four days of play. Well, the athlete in Paris, will surely be looking to add to his career accolades of three PGA Tour wins including a major victory, not to mention the five DP World Tour triumphs. Moreover, seeing as how the successful Zurich Classic of New Orleans team of Lowry and McIlroy is representing Ireland, the other golfers might truly be in for a tough weekend.

3. Leona Maguire: The European professional is fresh off a win at the Aramco Team Series in London. She dished out a scintillating eagle at the LET event, increasing her professional wins to five, two of which came on the LPGA Tour and the other two on the Symetra Tour. The 29-year-old will be making her third appearance at the quadrennial games, hoping to finish better than the T23 she carded back in the 2020 Games or the T21 in 2016.

4. Stephanie Meadow: The 32-year-old will also be making her third appearance at the Olympics, that too with her Cavan teammate. But interestingly, she has fared better than her Irish teammate, Maguire, in the sense that Meadow finished T7 in 2020, while only placing T31 in 2016. Regardless of the same, the 1-time Symetra Tour champ will surely hope to clinch a medal this time around in Paris as the games tee off on August 7 for the female golfers.

Exuding the Irish team spirit Ft. Lowry and Maguire

The Irish team sure is a strong squad consisting of four talented golfers. Although the event will be an individual stroke play tournament spanning over four days, the team spirit the four athletes share is nothing to be scoffed at. Shane Lowry had also expressed his exhilaration at being able to represent Ireland with Rory McIlroy when he said, “It’s great to be going back there with Rory.” 

Maguire, at the same time, also conveyed a similar emotion when she said, “Me and Steph have known each other a lifetime now, it seems, and it is our third Olympics together. It’s been quite the journey over the last, almost 20 years, at this point. It is nice to see growth in each other’s games and lives, and nice to be able to share this together.” The other golfers will surely have a hard time clinching the medal from these Irish athletes!