Dunhill Links champion Branden Grace has pulled out of this week's Portugal Masters after remembering what happened to him the last time he tried for three successive wins .

The 24-year-old missed the halfway cut in Abu Dhabi in January following back-to-back victories.

Grace, whose triumph at St Andrews on Sunday came a week after capturing the Vodacom Origins of Golf title in his native South Africa, said: "I think it might not be a bad idea skipping the next one."

The inaugural eight-man £3.5million Turkish World Finals featuring world No.1 Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods, Lee Westwood, Hunter Mahan, Justin Rose, Matt Kuchar, Webb Simpson and Charl Schwartzel will go ahead as planned this week despite violence in the region.

Meanwhile, Woods today confirmed that he apologised to the four rookies on the US Ryder Cup team for not contributing a single point in their devastating loss to Europe.