The Rory McIlroy story is a tale of two halves.

At the age of 25, he headed for his off-season holiday with four major titles, three Ryder Cups wins and the golden ticket to take Tiger Woods’ crown as the king of golf in his back pocket.

But fast-forward a decade and McIlroy gears up for his second Olympic Games in Irish green on the back of a series of frustrating near-misses and heartbreaking collapses in golf’s four biggest events.

Jack Nicklaus once predicted McIlroy would win 15-20 majors - but little did anyone know that number five would take so long to find.

After his US Open meltdown in June, where he missed two putts from little more than two feet away and gifted the title to American Bryson DeChambeau, McIlroy decided to take a break and clear his head. With The Open and the Olympics in quick succession, it could work wonders.

Despite all the heartache, it would take a brave gambler to bet against there being a third act to this McIlroy tale and another sweep of the game’s biggest prizes.

Indeed, the Olympics could be just what he needs – which is some turn of events considering he skipped the first Games in Rio due to the threat of the Zika virus and against a back-drop of mystery.

As a Northern Irish athlete, McIlroy had a choice of who to represent – Team GB or Ireland - and he did not hide how uncomfortable he found the decision.

“I made it more difficult for myself than I needed to,” he explained when announcing he was committing to Ireland.

“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.”

It could be just the environment he needs.

If Andy Murray used London 2012 as the launching pad for a glorious run that brought his first two Grand Slams, including a first Wimbledon crown, then McIlroy could use Paris 2024. And Paris 2024 could certainly use him.

Golf at the Olympics still feels a slightly unnatural fit, despite the players’ insistence that it has become an unofficial fifth major.

While tennis, a natural comparison, has just about embraced the Games, golf still feels on the periphery – quite literally as courses tend to be out in the sticks and away from the thick of the action in the centre of a host city.

But also because so many of the game’s best players are unable to play. Tennis – a more international sport – has no such issues.

However, McIlroy is one of the few athletes that transcends his sport. He may have watched his rivals hoover up the majors, but he has still compiled another 16 PGA Tour wins since 2014 and is the star of the show wherever he turns up.

A look through the 2024 field and he should certainly feel confident. There are only 60 players for starters, almost 100 fewer than at the majors, while the qualifying system weakens the depth of talent.

In order to ensure it’s an international event, the USA can only qualify four for the Olympics, while every other nation has to make do with two. The top 60 eligible players in the world rankings get the call up but it means some of the best in the world are overlooked, including a clutch of Americans such as DeChambeau – the best player at the majors this season – and Patrick Cantlay.

Indeed, once you sift out all the surplus Americans and players from major nations, you end up with only 35 of the top 100 golfers in the field.  An incredible 13 - that’s nearly 25% - are ranked higher than 200. It hardly screams cream of the crop.

That has not stopped Olympic golf from being dramatic, at least. Justin Rose held off Sweden’s Henrik Stenson to win gold for Team GB in Rio, while American Xander Schauffele – the son of a German athlete who was destined for the Olympics before a car crash ended his career – provided one of the stories of Tokyo 2020.

McIlroy teed it up in Tokyo and was part of the seven-man play-off for bronze, although fell short.

“I have never tried to finish third so hard in my life,” he said.

“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.”

Indeed, if he wins the gold, it may just be one of the stories of the Games.

Watch every moment of Olympic Games Paris 2024 live only on discovery+