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Rory McIlroy breaks silence over why he is representing Ireland and not Great Britain at the 2024 Paris Olympics
Rory McIlroy will get his 2024 Olympic Games campaign underway on Thursday, when he tees off at 9:11am UK time.
The Northern Irishman will be competing in his second summer Games after coming agonisingly close to winning a medal in his first Olympics three years ago in Tokyo.
McIlroy finished just outside the medals, placing fourth but this time around he will be hoping he can feature on the podium.
Heading into Paris, the four-time major winner has opted to play for Ireland as he has always done before.
However he has finally revealed why he has chosen to represent Ireland over Team GB at the Olympics.
Rory McIlroy has revealed why he chose to play for Ireland over Great Britain at the Olympics
The 35-year-old will represent the Emerald Isle on Thursday in the opening round of the golf
He will play alongside county Offaly born Shane Lowry for Ireland
Why is Rory McIlroy playing for Ireland and not Great Britain at the Olympics?
Athletes in Northern Ireland are eligible to represent both countries at the Olympics.
This is because the Olympic Federation of Ireland and the British Olympic Association have an agreement under which Northern Ireland sportspeople can choose which team they want to compete for.
There has long been a debate over which country McIlroy should represent at the Olympics with both Ireland and Team GB trying to recruit the golf ace.
With the situation becoming so messy that there were rumours that he might boycott the Olympics altogether to avoid public scrutiny.
Which he witnessed first hand a few years ago when he said 'The fact is I’ve always felt more British than Irish,' in an interview, evoking rage and huge backlash from his Irish fanbase.
After the years of speculation of will he, won't he, McIlroy finally chose his side and put the the debate to rest, when he declared he would be representing Ireland at the 2020 Tokyo Games.
After years of speculation, McIlroy decided to represent Ireland instead of Great Britain for the first time at the 2020 Tokyo OIympics
His decision for choosing Ireland over Great Britain is because he always played for Ireland at underage level so he doesn't get why that should change
However the county Down born star never revealed at the time why he chose the Emerald Isle over Great Britain.
But the mystery is no longer, as the 35-year-old explained why he opted to play for the Irish instead of the British recently.
Going into heavy detail about his thought process for his decision ahead of the Tokyo Games.
'I made it more difficult for myself than I needed to.
'As I said, previously, once I left trying not to upset anyone aside, then it was actually a pretty easy decision. The decision was I’m going to play golf for the country or the nation that I’ve always played for through my junior and amateur days and now into the professional game. And that’s Ireland.'
McIlroy will tee off at 9:11am UK time on Thursday, August 1 in the opening round of the golf
Speaking on all the noise surrounding his decision to play for Ireland in Tokyo three years ago, McIlroy said:
'Even though the Olympics has given me this choice, there really wasn’t a choice because all I’ve done throughout my life is play golf for Ireland so why would that change just because the tournament has changed. That was my decision.'
Before adding 'I have never tried to finish third so hard in my life. Once you get in that Olympic spirit, something happens inside of you and you get a sense of what it means to so many people. Just to say I am an Olympian is great but to win a medal would be incredibly special."