Illness has forced Paul Lawrie to withdraw from defending his Andalucía Open title this week, meaning that he could lose his invitation to the Masters.

The Scot, currently ranked 45th in the world, revealed that he almost withdrew before his final round of last week's WGC Cadillac Open in Miami.

"I haven't been feeling too well this week, but last night I was up coughing most of the night," the 43-year-old wrote on his blog on Sunday.

"I was going to pull out today until I found out you have to complete four rounds for the money to count on the Order of Merit and Ryder Cup points, so I decided to cough and splutter my way round, eventually shooting 77."

Lawrie, who has not played at the Masters since 2004, sank to 60th following his final round score, meaning that he did not pick up any ranking points.

The world's top 50 at the end of next week will earn a spot at Augusta National for the first major of the year.