Paul Casey has dislocated his right shoulder while snowboarding during the winter break.
The Englishman is undergoing treatment which is going well but he expects to miss the first couple of months of the 2012 season.
Casey said: "I am very frustrated as I was really looking forward to getting off to a fast start in 2012. I'm disappointed to miss out on defending my title at the Volvo Golf Champions in South Africa in January and also the entire Middle East swing.
“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.
“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."
