Paul dislocated his right shoulder while snowboarding in Colorado and is likely to be out of action for at least two months.

“I am very frustrated as I was really looking forward to getting off to a fast start in 2012,” said Paul.

He was due to defend his Volvo Golf Champions title in South Africa and is also set to miss the European Tour’s entire Middle East swing, including his bid for a third victory in Abu Dhabi in six years.

“I’ve always played well in the desert and the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship is one of my favourite events of the year, so I will particularly hate sitting out that one,” he continued.

“The good news is that the experts I’ve seen say I don’t need surgery and, having already started my rehabilitation exercises, I should be back hitting balls in a few weeks.”