The British Masters has suffered a blow tonight after Justin Rose pulled out of next week's tournament at The Grove to take a two-month break from competitive golf for "rest and recovery".

The Olympic champion, who is one of the tournament's four ambassadors, was set to be one of the star attractions at the Luke Donald-hosted event, which gets under way at the Chandler's Cross hotel and golf complex on Thursday.

The 36-year-old former US Open said it was "particularly tough" to miss the tournament, but explained his reasons in the following statement released via his Twitter account.