Thursday 21 February 2019 23:28, UK
Tiger Woods has announced that he will not be competing in next week's Honda Classic, but he will be bidding for a ninth victory at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Woods admitted on Wednesday that his schedule in the build-up to The Masters was "very complicated", particularly with the restructure of the PGA Tour calendar this year.
The 43-year-old has played the Honda Classic only four times in his career despite the PGA National venue in Palm Beach Gardens being located just a short drive down Florida's east course from his Jupiter Island home.
The tournament remains one of the few events which he has yet to win, his best result being a runner-up finish to Rory McIlroy in 2012, and he will have to wait another year to end that drought as he is understandably keen to avoid playing five weeks in a row.
Woods hosted last week's Genesis Open and is making his first appearance in Mexico this week, and he will now have next week off before returning at Bay Hill, with The Players Championship next on his radar the week after.
The 14-time major champion has yet to confirm if he will tee up in the final event of the Florida Swing at the Valspar Championship, where he finished just a shot behind Paul Casey last year.
Woods may opt to give Tampa a miss this season and complete his Masters preparations at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, which concludes less than a fortnight before the first major of the year at Augusta National.
Shortly before he began his first round in Mexico, Woods posted a tweet which read: "Unfortunately, due to the schedule this year, I cannot play all the events I want to. I will be taking next week off and playing in the Arnold Palmer Invitational and The Players Championship. Sorry to miss seeing Jack and everyone at Honda."
Woods admitted on Wednesday that he was wary of burn-out and fatigue which would hamper his bid for a 15th major title, and a fifth Masters win.
He said: "From here on out it's very complicated. That's what I'm trying to figure out; how much to play, how much is too much, how much is not enough.
"Next week is at home for me, then there's a tournament I've won eight times, then another event I've won a couple of times and then the week after is where I had another unbelievable week last year.
"At the end of the day, it's being race ready enough for April and making sure I get enough competitive rounds in. That's one of the reasons why I put in Tampa last year after I missed the cut in LA, to make sure I get some rounds in and be race ready.
"This year is even more complicated as I feel better, but I've got four events right there in my state that I live in."
