Paul Dunne forced to withdraw from South African Open

Paul Dunne has been forced to withdraw from his first tournament of 2016 after being struck down by a bout of food poisoning.

The BMW South African Open at Glendower Golf Club was due to be the Greystones native’s first event of the new year but he confirmed via social media that illness would rule him out.

Dunne was due to be Ireland’s sole representative in South Africa.

“Not the best timing to get food poisoning/tummy bug the night before the #BMWSAOpen. Devastated to have to withdraw this morning,” he wrote on twitter.

With next week's Joburg Open in South Africa he will remain in the country, where he will soon be joined by Peter Lawrie, Kevin Phelan and Ruaidhri McGee .