Justin Thomas was not able to have a podium finish in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, but he’ll be leaving the Land of the Rising Sun with some great memories — and a realization that betrays Rory McIlroy’s lowly expectations of the tournament.

Via Daniel Rapaport of Golf Digest:

“I thought I would be proud, but the first day or two I immediately found out that this is like the coolest thing I've ever been a part of. The Ryder Cup is cool, the Presidents Cup's cool, but this is just so different. I grew up watching the Ryder Cup, the Presidents Cup, the majors, and never grew up watching this, so no one was ever able to relay or say how it felt being an Olympian, especially a golfer.”

Prior to the Olympics, McIlroy openly shared his apparent lack of interest in participating in the games, as though he was being forced to do something that he would gladly ignore if the optics of that kind of decision weren’t going to be bad. To be fair, though, McIlroy at least was there to add star power to the sport unlike some of the other top players in the world.

In addition to that, McIlroy, like Thomas, would later find playing in the Olympics exceeding his expectations to the point that he’s now envisioning himself doing it all over again three years from now in France.

“Being a part of something that's completely different and bigger than me and even our sport in general, that's a pretty cool thing,” Rory McIlroy said Friday. “So I didn't know if this was going to be my only Olympics that I play or whatever and I'm already looking forward to Paris [Olympic host in 2024].”

Thomas with just a T22 in the men’s individual tournament in the Olympics, while McIlroy ended up tied for third.