A knee injury suffered by Brandt Snedeker on a post-tournament outing in China has left this week’s Australian PGA Championship without one of its main drawcards.

The world No.9 informed organisers via his manager on Tuesday about the injury which will prevent him lining up in the field for the tournament at Royal Pines on the Gold Coast.

Just how or where Snedeker suffered the injury remains a mystery with his manager only being informed of the development after arriving by plane in Brisbane on Tuesday morning.

Australian PGA chief executive Brian Thorburn said details were sketchy but it’s believed Snedeker was on an outing following last week’s World Golf Championship event in Shanghai when he was hurt in an accident.

Along with hometown favourite and US Masters champion Adam Scott, as well as young American Rickie Fowler, Snedeker was one of the main drawcards for the PGA Championship, which is being held at Royal Pines for the first time.

“It’s a great shame,” Thorburn said.

“I don’t think it’s a massive hit. We obviously would have liked him to have been here but, when you’ve got Adam Scott fronting the field, it’s still going to be an extremely successful championship.

“It’s just one of those things that happen in tournaments – withdrawals take place.”

With less than two days until the tournament starts on Thursday, Thorburn said there was no time to find an international-calibre player to replace Snedeker.

Officials later confirmed Victorian Ryan Haywood would take Snedeker’s place in the Championship field.

“The tournament starts in 48 hours. Many of the markets where these guys come from are 24 hours away,” Thorburn said about inviting another overseas player.

“Just impractical to get anyone else to fill his shoes.”