Masters champion Angel Cabrera has decided to pull out of next week's HSBC Champions in Shanghai and therefore miss the season-ending Dubai World Championship.

The 40-year-old will not have played the minimum 12 events required for inclusion in the Dubai field, although he would have been eligible if he had not been disqualified from last week's Castello Masters.

He missed his tee-off time by less than 15 minutes after being delayed en route from the Grand Slam in Bermuda the previous day.

Cabrera's decision could be great news for England's former European Open champion Kenneth Ferrie, currently 116th on the Order of Merit and in danger of losing his Tour card.

Ferrie will move up one spot when Cabrera's name is removed from the list, with the top 115 earning exemptions for next season's circuit.

After losing to Australian Robert Allenby in the third-place play-off at the Volvo World Match Play in Spain, Cabrera said: "Now I have two weeks in South Africa, then back to Argentina and restart in January in Hawaii."

Ferrie could have secured his immediate future at the Singapore Open on Sunday but by finishing only 57th stayed 116th in the 'Race to Dubai' standings.

Cabrera is the 11th player to turn down places in China, which for the first time is part of the World Golf Championships series.

Also missing are Fiji's Vijay Singh, South African Tim Clark and Americans Steve Stricker, Jim Furyk, Lucas Glover, Kenny Perry, Zach Johnson, Dustin Johnson, Scott Verplank and Heath Slocum.

The event does, though, have Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and five more of the world's top 10.