PALM HARBOR (Florida), Oct 28: Tiger Woods will miss next week's prestigious season-ending Tour Championship in Atlanta to get some added rest.

Woods made the announcement on Friday, saying that he needed another week off after a gruelling autumn schedule.

“Playing seven out of nine weeks with an additional trip to Ireland for Ryder Cup practice was taxing both mentally and physically and I feel like I need another week away from competitive golf,” he said.

“I'm confident that this extended break will help me to recharge my batteries for the 2007 season.”

Woods has not played since winning the American Express Championship on October 1, his sixth consecutive victory on the PGA Tour.

He never before has skipped the season ending Tour Championship, restricted to the top 30 money winners on tour.

The event, starting next Thursday at East Lake, will be without the game's two biggest stars, with Phil Mickelson also skipping it.

And the injured Stephen Ames, who won the Players Championship in March, will not play either, reducing the field to just 27 players.

Woods is next scheduled to compete in two weeks at the HSBC Champions Tournament in China, before defending his title at the Dunlop Phoenix in Japan the following week.—AFP