ZealousGolfer.com

Tiger Woods announced today that he is missing next week's PGA Tour Season Opener, the Mercedes-Benz Championship.

He cited two primary reasons:
#1 -- he wants more time with his family and
#2 -- he has spent the last twelve days skiing and relaxing with his family and isn't prepared for tournament play. He said that since winning the Target World Challenge on December 17th, he has not really played much golf.

Woods missed the tournament last year as well due to his father's diminishing health.

The event is set to be the first in the new FedEx Cup competition. It is a points race that begins with the Mercedes-Benz Championship. The 2007 winner will get $10 million in deferred compensation.

Woods is currently on a six streak PGA Tour win.

I see two interesting things here: #1 -- even on a bad day, Woods is better than most players in the world and would probably fair well at the Mercedes event. #2 -- the offer of winning $10 million at the end of the year is not enough of an incentive for Woods who is set to be the first athlete to earn a billion dollars.