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Open champion Shane Lowry expects to spend the overwhelming majority of his time in the USA this year and said the Irish Open is the only European Tour event he would consider playing.
The Irishman's commitment to playing mainly in the US is no surprise, and most European and international players are expected to follow suit.
With the Open championship cancelled and all three US-based majors to follow later in the year along with a bumper PGA Tour schedule, the players will likely all focus their attention on the other side of the Atlantic.
The added complexities of travel and quarantines amid the coronavirus pandemic will only further motivate players not too stray too far from where most of the action will take place.
Lowry has been living in Florida since March in preparation for the resumption of the PGA Tour season and said he'll only seriously consider coming back to Europe for Irish Open.
"The way it is, especially with the quarantine on both sides, I don't think it'd be physically possible for me (to go back)," he told RTE 2fm's Game On radio show.
"The only tournament I would contemplate going back for was if there was an Irish Open put back on the schedule. I haven't seen a schedule from the European Tour so I can't really but I'll probably be mostly in America for the rest of the year.
"Things are just going to be a bit different. I'm just going to go back to what I've done the last few years, and that's kind of living day by day, week by week, and just try to perform the best I can every day."
Lowry also revealed he'll have a new caddie for the first few weeks of the season.
"Bo's wife is having a baby in a few weeks so I've got a different caddie for the first few weeks and then Bo, I think he's coming back in late July/August," he said.
"He's not been able to travel solely because his wife is having a baby, nothing to with international travel. I've got Darren Reynolds, who's another good Irishman."
- TEAMtalk media
