'I am really gutted,' said the world number 25.

'I have been thinking about it for four hours and I have decided to withdraw because my new driver will not arrive on time.

'It is disappointing because I did not come all this way not to play. But with so many world ranking points at stake if I played badly (by using a different driver) I may have lost ground.'

Poulter was in Shanghai last week for the HSBC Champions tournament.

Anirban Lahiri of India will take his place at the Singapore Open, a five million dollar tournament featuring the likes of Phil Mickelson, Padraig Harrington and Ernie Els. -- AFP