They say it's the hope that kills you. The boom-bust circle of life that is a crescendo of anticipation and dashed aspirations on the biggest stages have become a facet of Rory McIlroy's major drought over the last decade.
This though on a sunny, but just about tolerably warm Sunday, south-west of Paris, was about a career ambition that had only come into view since golf returned to the hinterland of the Olympic programme for Rio 2016.
That was a Games that McIlroy chose to sit out, but by the time he got a taste of it in Tokyo three years ago, the four-time major winner seemed to have become taken with the whole enterprise.
On that occasion, a play-off would deny him bronze but the whole experience had energised him for another go.
As he said at the time, "You're a part of something much bigger and I'm really looking forward to Paris in three years' time."
He had caught the bug but what he wouldn't be able to shake off across the final round this Sunday would be the type of so-near-yet-so-far outcomes that have typified his performances when it comes to the crunch.
All roads led to the Le Golf National for this writer, at a course located just south-west of Versailles which is hosting the equestrian events and about an hour outside Paris.
Well, all roads would be pushing it given the number of roadblocks in place due to the hosting of the Olympics.
But eventually, one got there just as McIlroy was teeing off and with the world number three starting from 10 under, the Irish interest lay with him given that Shane Lowry, who'd shown such infectious joy and patriotism when announced as an Opening Ceremony flagbearer, was out of contention and had already deemed the remainder of his tournament to be an exercise in "playing for pride" by halfway.
The 2019 Open winner kept that Olympic spirit to the forefront after enjoying the full experience that was not possible during the Covid-affected Tokyo Games.
"I was thinking about it a lot today," the Clara man told RTÉ Sport's Dave Kelly after stepping off the course.
"Tokyo, like I said, was a bit weird, but this week I felt a part of Team Ireland. Being at the Opening Ceremony and doing all that and watching all the other athletes compete, being there for Daniel (Wiffen)'s win on Tuesday and just watching Ireland pick up some medals, it fills you full of pride and makes you proud to be Irish.
"I'm just disappointed not to be able to add to the tally but it's been a hugely successful Olympics so far for Ireland."
But while he toiled somewhat early on after an initial double bogey, more than one fan clad in an Offaly jersey was following McIlroy's group rather than their countyman, either by choice or possibly like in those nature programmes narrated by David Attenborough when a few stragglers fall behind the herd.
By this stage, McIlroy was showing signs that an assault on the medal places was very much a possibilty after two birdies in his opening four holes.
And the Holywood golfer as well as his playing partners, eventual bronze medal winner Hideki Matsuyama and Denmark's Nicolai Hojgaard, had gathered quite a crowd around them.
Danish and Japanese fans were there in numbers, but were outnumbered by the sheer scale of Irish. From conversations with others on the McIlroy conga line as he hit on a rut of pars from holes five to nine, every corner of the country was represented from Cork to Galway and Dublin to Derry.
Some were kitted out in Ireland soccer and rugby jerseys, while others went a bit further, a couple of Clare jerseys, Kildare kits and someone in Fermanagh GAA garb.
Especially with the top end of the leaderboard replete with some of the game's current greats from eventual Olympic champion Scottie Scheffler and Jon Rahm to the in-form (apart from here on the final day) Xander Schauffele, that part of the course were heavily thronged with human life.
Plus France's pride and joy Victor Perez had home fans chanting passionately whenever anyone was in earshot given he was highly placed and shining in that rarified air.
So it made following McIlroy around a tad tricky for anyone who wasn't in the six-foot-plus bracket. One Corkman who'd travelled over with his Luxembourg-based sister was able to tower over the crowd below him unimpeded, while muggins here was wondering if a Wolverine-style fusion of my titanium tripod and my leg bones could offer a temporary solution to the altitude issue.
However, Thomas Muller-style Raumdeuter-ing in search of pockets of space did pay off and it was just as McIlroy made the turn that suddenly he found an explosion of momentum.
A lovely approach shot to the green on the 10th led to whoops from the crowd and chants of 'Rory, Rory!' He nailed the putt and then everything began coming up Milhouse.
A birdie on 11, then on 12. Why stop there? He carried on with more birdies on 13 and then 14 and suddenly the 35-year-old was sitting in a tie for third and was only a couple of shots off the overall lead.
The crowd was certainly buzzing as feet trampled en masse from hole to hole and given McIlroy's immense talent, the possibilites appeared endless - McIlroy said as much to RTÉ Sport after his round when he admitted, "I thought any medal was possible then".
But that's where the momentum stalled. While Scheffler, who had also started on 10 under, methodically reeled in the leaders on his way to gold, McIlroy's bid for a medal unravelled as emphatically as it had started.
This year's US Open will be the nadir of his year. But what transpired at Le Golf National in finding water at 15, double-bogeying the hole and losing all momentum will sting, although his words did suggest there was an element of not wanting to be conservative and settle. A sign of the balancing act that the greats teeter on constantly.
"I knew I was only one back at that point," said a reflective McIlroy about the Icarus-esque midpoint of the back nine.
"It would have been easy to hit it 30-feet long and make a four but I wanted to try and make another birdie, stay aggressive and try to get the most out of the round as I could. Unfortunately that didn't quite happen."
While Scheffler and the silver and bronze medalists Tommy Fleetwood and Matsuyama filed into the media centre for the post-tournament press conference, the fleeting disappointment that neither McIlroy nor Lowry - as he put it himself above - couldn't add to Team Ireland's run of medals across the board this week did dampen the mood for the Irish fans out at Le Golf National.
But at least for a five-hole run, McIlroy had them dreaming out of the palm of his hand.
Watch the 2024 Olympic Games with 14 hours of televised action on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player each day. Listen to extensive radio coverage on RTÉ Radio 1 and 2fm's Game On and follow each moment from Paris on RTÉ.ie, the RTÉ News app and all RTÉ digital platforms. Listen to the daily RTÉ Sport Olympics Podcast.
