Shane Lowry has confirmed he will defend his WGC-Bridgestone Invitational title instead of appearing at the European Tour’s Open de France. DeShawn Stevenson Jersey . A change in the PGA Tours schedule to accommodate golfs return to the Olympics means the two tournaments will be held in the same week, leaving players with a tough decision to pick which event to play in.Lowry secured a three-year PGA Tour membership by claiming victory at Firestone Country Club last year, finishing two shots clear of nearest challenger Bubba Watson, and the Irishman has decided to return to the venue of his maiden PGA Tour title. Lowry claimed a two-shot win at Firestone last summer The European Tour has pulled its sanctioning of the no-cut event in Ohio to encourage their big-name players to appear in France, where double Ryder Cup points and increased prize money will be on offer.Not playing in Paris significantly reduces Lowrys hopes of automatically qualifying for Darren Clarkes side for Hazeltine, but the Irishman admits an improvement to his game is his initial concern.Ive known for a while in my own mind that I wanted to defend in Akron, Lowry told the Irish Times. Any players Ive spoken to have said Im right, even though it wont count on the European Tour this season and doesnt have any Ryder Cup points. The Irishman is without a top-15 finish in his past 10 worldwide starts If Id had a good Wentworth and made progress up the Ryder Cup qualifying table, I might have felt differently.But first and foremost I need to get back and focused on my own game and forget about everything else thats going on around me. So, Ive mapped out a schedule that has the US Open and then a stretch that takes in the Bridgestone, Scottish Open and the Open Championship. World No 3 Rory McIlroy and Masters champion Danny Willett have already announced they will be playing at Le Golf National, home of the 2018 Ryder Cup, where Bernd Wiesberger defends his title. Lowry currently lies 22nd in the European Ryder Cup points list - more than 1,300,000 points from an automatic qualification spot - and 24th in the world points list.He followed a tied-23rd finish at the K Club last month with a missed cut at the BMW PGA Championship, while his best performance in 2016 is a top-six display at the Phoenix Open. Watch both the Open de France and the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational live from June 30-July 3 on Sky Sports 4 - your home of golf Also See: McIlroy to play in Paris Increased backing for French More should play Wentworth Golf live on Sky Sports Courtney Lee Jersey . - Pittsburgh Steelers president Art Rooney II says the NFL has told the team it will not be docked a pick in this years draft for coach Mike Tomlins foray onto the field against Baltimore last November. Dennis Rodman Jersey . Instead, Nonis and Kessel were sorting through the fallout of a wild melee with the Buffalo Sabres, one that saw Kessel suspended for the duration of the pre-season. https://www.cheapmavericks.com/443l-mark-aguirre-jersey-mavericks.html . The freestyle skier from Calgary finished sixth in the qualification round with a total of 82.00 points. Groenewoud won a silver medal at the X Games last month, just over five weeks after undergoing double knee surgery. ALAMEDA, Calif. -- Oakland Raiders quarterback Terrelle Pryor will miss Sundays game in Houston because of a sprained right knee. The Raiders ruled out Pryor on Saturday and announced that undrafted rookie free agent Matt McGloin will start against the Texans. Pryor had a setback at practice on Friday and had been listed as questionable. He leads all NFL quarterbacks with 504 yards rushing. But he wore a thick brace over his knee during last weeks 24-20 loss to the New York Giants when he was held to a season-low 19 yards on the ground and sacked four times. McGloin was 7 for 15 for 87 yards in relief of Pryor against the Eagles in Week 9 in his first game action of his career. He will be the 17th quarterback to start for Oakland since the start of the 2003 season. The Raiders also promoted rookie Tyler Wilson from the practice squad to back up McGloin and waived defensive end Brian Sanford. Wilson was a fourth-round pick but was beaten out for a roster spot by McGloin. McGloin entered training camp fourth on the depth chart. He was originally a walk-on at Penn State before setting the school record for career touchdown passes. &qquot;What can you say about Matt McGloin? Having been in that league, I know it takes a smart guy, it takes a competitive guy, it takes a guy that does the same thing every day," said Penn State coach Bill OBrien, the former offensive co-ordinator for the New England Patriots. Dwight Powell Jersey. "He works at it. Hes in the office early, he leaves late. Thats what Matt is. Everything Matt gets, he deserves because he works for it. Its going to be fun to watch him play." McGloin will start against another undrafted free agent in Houstons Case Keenum. This marks the first time since 2011 that two undrafted free agent quarterbacks started against each other. Kansas Citys Tyler Palko faced Chicagos Caleb Hanie on Dec. 4 that year, and Miamis Matt Moore faced Dallas Tony Romo on Nov. 24. Disregarding the strike year in 1987, this will be just the second time two undrafted quarterbacks in their first year in the NFL started against each other, according to STATS LLC. The only other time it happened came on Dec. 1, 1985, when Dieter Brock of the Los Angeles Rams faced Bobby Hebert of the New Orleans Saints. ' ' '