The European Tour's flagship event in China suffered a new blow on Tuesday when it was confirmed Henrik Stenson had withdrawn after the birth of his third child.
The BMW Masters, which begins at Lake Malaren on Thursday, was already reeling from world No 1 Rory McIlroy's decision last week to pull out.
It lost another of its big stars in the Swede, who last year won the USPGA Tour's Fedex Cup and the European Tour's Race to Dubai standings.
Stenson's wife, Emma, gave birth to Alice in Orlando, Florida, on Sunday and the Swede, who is third in the Race to Dubai standings, has decided to remain in the States.
He is now expected to travel to Shanghai for next week's World Golf Championships' HSBC Champions tournament at the Sheshan Golf Club after spending a week with the newest addition to the Stenson family and his other children, seven-year-old Lisa and four-year-old Karl.
"No 3 has arrived!!" Stenson posted on his Facebook page along with a picture of him holding the baby.
"Alice was born Sunday afternoon! Mommy did great! Lisa and Karl seems to be pretty happy with the new addition."
McIlroy declared a week ago he was taking time away from golf to deal better with the multi-million dollar legal dispute he has with his former management company.
