Rory McIlroy claims Olympic gold medal would be his biggest achievement in the last decade

Rory McIlroy believes a gold medal at the Paris Olympics would arguably represent his biggest success of the past 10 years.

It is a noticeably different tune from the world No 3, who infamously dismissed the importance of the Games after withdrawing from Rio 2016.

His participation for Ireland in Tokyo, where he finished fourth, signified a shift in that stance and the decade he has gone without a major has added a layer of importance to his presence at Le Golf National this week.

‘The last time you guys saw me, I didn’t give a very good account of myself at Troon,’ McIlroy said, ahead of his first tournament since missing the cut at The Open.

‘I’ve been asked this question a lot, where would an Olympic medal sit in sort of the hierarchy of my career achievements and it’s something I probably won’t be able to answer until when everything is said and done.

McIlroy alongside Shane Lowry share a laugh as they go through the practice holes in Paris

‘I think as golf is in the Olympics for a longer period of time, it will become more. I don’t know if anything will be able to sit alongside the majors. We have our four events a year that are the gold standard. But I think this is going to be right up there.

‘It would be the achievement, certainly of the year (for him). It’s well documented that I haven’t won one of the big four in 10 years. It would probably be one, if not the biggest, in my career for the last 10 years.’

Meanwhile, Spain’s Jon Rahm has called for a change to the Olympic qualification system, which relies on golf’s world rankings and therefore has seen a number of LIV players, including US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau, unable to make teams.

Rahm said: ‘Other sports allow the countries to pick themselves. There needs to be some guidelines, but like Team USA Basketball has free come to choose whoever they want. I understand it’s a different circumstance, but I think you need to let each country choose who they want to play.’