McIlroy, Lowry, Maguire and Meadow confirmed for Paris

Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry, Leona Maguire and Stephanie Meadow will once again represent Ireland in golf at the Paris Olympic Games, replicating the team that competed in Tokyo.

The tournament takes place in Le Golf National, in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, near Versailles to the southwest of Paris, the venue for the 2018 Ryder Cup.

In Tokyo, McIlroy finished tied for fifth, one shot shy of a bronze medal. His playing partner is going to Paris with podium ambitions, with Lowry saying: “My first experience in Tokyo was amazing and it feeds you with the hunger of wanting to do it again and to come back and give it a better shot this time. A lot of what I’ve talked about and done this year has been geared towards the Olympics in Paris.

“I have always said that I’d love to bring a medal back to Ireland, and that’s my number one goal. It’s great to be going back there with Rory too.”

Leona Maguire recently became the first Irish player to win a Ladies European Tour event after a fantastic eagle in the 18th hole at the Aramco Team Series.

The Cavan player, along with Antrim’s Stephanie Meadow, are heading into their third Olympics.

Looking ahead, Maguire said: “It’s a huge honour to be selected for my third Olympics. There are not a lot of people who can say that they have been to three Olympic Games. Anytime you get to represent your country is a huge honour, and to do it at an Olympics, there’s no bigger honour. As golfers we don’t get to be part of a team very often, so it is special to be part of a team heading to Paris.

“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.”

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