Four-time Major winning Rory McIlroy reckons the likes of Justin Rose, Shane Lowry. Russell Knox, Soren Kjeldsen and David Lingmerth have missed a golden opportunity to secure a place in the 2016 European Ryder Cup team.

That’s because the trio of European Tour members have elected to contest the WGC – Bridgestone Invitational rather than tee up in the 100th French Open.

European Tour officials reacted to the PGA Tour’s decision to stage the Bridgestone Invitational the same week as the French Open by declaring the French Open to count towards two Race to Dubai events and that there will be double Ryder Cup points on offer.

In contrast, those European Tour members teeing up in Akron, Ohio will not be afforded any Ryder Cup points nor Race to Dubai points.

And McIlroy, who is assured of teeing-up at Hazeltine, said: “One of the incentives to come here, maybe not for myself, but for some of the other guys,” McIlroy said Wednesday. “I think a few guys that aren’t playing might regret it, depending on what happens when the team is picked.”

Rory McIlroy attacked by an insect right when he began speaking of a decision not to compete in this year’s Rio Olympics.

In fact, the winner of the French Open, if European, will receive 64 points (compared to 36 in 2015) toward the World Points List and 1 million points toward the European Points List. Points will be higher than usual for those who make the cut, as well.

“You could see many guys that are down the list and have a good week this week, they can put themselves right into contention for either an automatic place or a pick,” McIlroy said. “It will be interesting to see how that unfolds.”

There are many on the European Ryder Cup team bubble in the French field, including Victor Dubuisson, Lee Westwood, Thorbjorn Olesen, Thomas Pieters and Graeme McDowell. But there are some notables that aren’t.

However McIlroy was understanding of Lowry’s plight as the defending Bridgstone champion.

“You’ve got Shane who was in a tough position, he wins his first World Golf Championships (event) last year and naturally you want to go and try to defend your title,” McIlroy said.

“So he was put in a tough position, just because of the way the schedule was this year.”