A throwaway comment by Rory McIlroy at Tokyo 2020 was worth its weight in gold as golf looked increasingly at home on the Olympic stage.

"I've been saying all day I never tried so hard in my life to finish third," said the Irishman after bowing out of a riveting seven-man bronze-medal playoff in the men's competition at Kasumigaseki Country Club.

As one of the world's leading golfers, McIlroy's revelation was just the endorsement the game needed to show it is here to stay in the Olympic program, and that it does matter to the game's elite.

More importantly, Tokyo 2020 also underscored Olympic golf's role in growing the sport globally, as exemplified by Aditi Ashok's impressive performance in the women's competition for India.

Success in professional sports is most often measured by victories and trophies. After all, people rarely remember the guy or girl who finished second, third or fifth.

However, the fact that McIlroy, a former world No 1 and 19-time PGA Tour winner, and six others fought like lions for third place was testament to the Olympic ideals.

When the sport was reintroduced in Rio 2016 following a 112-year lapse, the 32-year-old McIlroy was among the many skeptics of the game's return. But he soon became an Olympic convert after his time in Tokyo.

"I made some comments before that were probably uneducated and impulsive, but coming here, experiencing it, seeing, feeling everything that goes on, not just Olympic golf but just the Olympics in general, that sort of Olympic spirit has definitely bitten me and I'm excited how this week's turned out and excited for the future," said McIlroy.

"It makes me even more determined going to Paris (in 2024). I'm trying to go at least one better but hopefully three better."

Other stars left Tokyo 2020 with lifelong memories and renewed determination to return to Paris.

"It's so different. It was cooler than I thought it was going to be," said Justin Thomas, the 2017 FedEx-Cup champion. "I'm more proud of being here than I thought I would be."

Thomas' US teammate Collin Morikawa, who also featured in the bronze-medal playoff, concurred, saying: "I think what today brought out of me was more than just playing for myself, I was playing for our country and I was able to fight and dig deep.

"To anyone that has second thoughts or doubts about whether golf should be in the Olympics or whether they should represent their country, they absolutely should because the Olympics reach a wider audience than anything or a lot of tournaments that we play. We're doing our part putting golf on the world stage."

For eventual champion Xander Schauffele, his golden moment at Kasumigaseki's East course meant the world to him and his father, Stefan, who was an Olympic decathlon hopeful before a car accident caused by a drunken driver dashed his dreams.

Hailing from a multicultural family－h(huán)is father is French-German, his mother, Ping Yi, was born in Chinese Taipei and grew up in Japan－Xander Schauffele will now be the perfect poster boy to promote Olympic golf in years to come.

"He put all his eggs in one basket for quite some time… to compete as a decathlete in the Olympics," Xander said of his father and coach.

"Life came at him fast, it was swiped away from him, but he saw potential in me … and so he put all his eggs in my basket.

"For this to come full circle, I just feel very fortunate and really happy to share this with him. I knew he was going to be there crying, luckily he had shades on, but it was really cool."

China's Carl Yuan Yechun, who qualified for Tokyo 2020 from the Korn Ferry Tour, finished tied-38th in his Olympic debut and intends to fight his way back to Paris 2024. Mixing with other Olympians has given him the added self-belief that Chinese mainland golfers can win a medal at the next Olympics and emulate the bronze-medal effort of Chinese Taipei's CT Pan.

"It's amazing to be with so many great athletes in the Olympic Village. They have medals around their necks and up close in person, they are so nice even when they have a gold medal. It really motivates me to be like one of them in the future. I think our golfers are starting to improve gradually, playing in better competitions. It takes a bit of time for us to get to the highest stage but I think we're one step closer to it every day," said the 24-year-old Yuan.

American Nelly Korda, Japan's Mone Inami and Lydia Ko of New Zealand were the medalists in the women's competition. However, it was India's Ashok, with her mother Maheshwari as caddie, who moved the needle for women's golf with an eye-catching fourth-place finish.

With their combined followers on Twitter totaling over 120 million, it is safe to conclude the gospel of golf was successfully spread across Ashok's cricket-mad nation. Hopefully like McIlroy, some will be converted to Olympic golf.

The writer is senior director of marketing and communications for the PGA Tour and is based in Kuala Lumpur.