Shane Lowry pulled out of competing in the Olympic Games on Tuesday afternoon.
Despite not travelling to Brazil in August, the timing of the event may have serious repercussions on his hopes of automatically qualifying for his first Ryder Cup later this year.
Last August, Lowry earned the biggest win of his career when he was victorious at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in Ohio. Due to the Olympic golf competition taking place on that same weekend this year, the WGC event has been moved forward to this weekend by the PGA Tour.
The Ohio event has clashed in the schedules with the Open de France on the outskirts of Paris. This year's event marks the 100th anniversary of the Open de France, and the cream of the European Tour talent, including Rory McIlroy and Danny Willett will be teeing off at Le Golf National.
Lowry has understandably decided to travel to America and defend his title. He is only one of six European golfers that will be competing in at the Firestone Golf Club.
.@ShaneLowryGolf returns to the site of his first PGA TOUR win to defend his title. https://t.co/L1KJTLiuok pic.twitter.com/8aqpHXDC1o
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) June 29, 2016
The reason so few European golfers are competing in America this week, is because the European Tour decided not to sanction the event last August.
In a statement, the European Tour revealed that any prize money earned at the American event would not count towards the end-of-season money lists.
"Withdrawing the sanction means that the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational will not be part of The 2016 European Tour International Schedule, nor will money won in it count towards The Race to Dubai or for Ryder Cup points."
There lies Lowry's problem. Despite his second-placed finish at the US Open, Lowry remains outside the automatic places for Darren Clarke's team. The Offaly native is 12th on the qualification table, with only the top nine guaranteed their place at Hazeltine in the Autumn.
While most of his rivals will be earning much needed points in Paris, Lowry will be defending the biggest title of his career in America, while putting himself at a disadvantage. It's hardly the fairest of scenarios for the Clara golfer.
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