In pics: Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry arrive at Le Golf National for the Olympics on a happy note

Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry have reached Le Golf National, the venue for the men's and women's golf competitions at the 2024 Paris Olympics. The men's event will be held from August 1 to 4.

The Irish stars also practiced before the official event at the ground and attended the press conference. Mcllroy and Lowry's pictures were shared by the official handle of Ryder Cup Europe. The post was captioned:

"Rory and Shane enjoying Le Golf National"

Both Mcllroy and Lowry will be participating in the Olympic Games for the second time. They both participated in the Tokyo Olympics 2020 for Ireland. After four rounds, Lowry finished tied at 22nd position while Mcllroy tied for third position with seven other golfers. He finished second in a seven-way playoff and missed out on a bronze medal.

In a recent interview with BBC Sport NI, Mcllroy said:

"For me it's well documented I haven't won one of the big four in 10 years so it (a gold medal in Paris) would be one of, if not the biggest, achievements of my career in the last 10 years."

He arrived at Le Golf after a practice round at Old Course at St Andrews, Scotland.

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Rory McIlroy questions quality of field for Olympic golf

Rory McIlroy, the world no. 3, has questioned if the Olympics will ever achieve the same status as Majors like Masters, PGA Championship, US Open and the British Open.

He said (via BBC Sport NI):

"It's hard to say (whether Olympic Golf will become like a major), as even this week, the way the qualification system works, not all the best players in the world are here… You'd like to think that if you're going to win something really prestigious in the sport then you want all the best players playing and that isn't quite happening here."

McIlroy has had a mixed relationship with the Olympics. The games were played in the 21st century for the first time in 2016. However, Mcllroy missed it due to the Zika virus scare.

In another interview, he said that he resents the Olympic Games because they make him choose between Great Britain and Ireland. Since Mcllroy was born in Northern Ireland, he can represent both countries. He said (via ESPN):

"All of a sudden it put me in a position where I had to question who I am. Who am I? Where am I from? Where do my loyalties lie? Who am I going to play for? Who do I not want to [upset] the most? I started to resent it. And I do. I resent the Olympic Games because of the position it put me in. That's my feelings toward it. And whether that's right or wrong, that's how I feel."

He later decided to play for Ireland. He said that choosing Ireland was easy as he has played for the country since his amateur days. Golf in both Northern Ireland and Ireland is governed by the same governing body.