Tiger Woods has confirmed that he won’t be competing in the WGC Match Play Championship this month.

Which means the Match Play will be without three of the top players in the world – Woods, Phil Mickelson and Adam Scott.

The world No.1 announced on Thursday that his next tournament will be the US PGA Tour’s Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, February 27-March 2.

After that he’ll play the World Golf Championships Cadillac Championship at Doral near Miami, and the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill in Orlando – in both of which he is the defending champion.

The WGC-Cadillac is March 6-9, and the Palmer Invitational is March 20-23.

That will then give Woods some time off before he tackles the first major of the year, the Masters at Augusta National April 10-13.

“The Honda Classic is close to my home, and I want to support it whenever I can,” Woods said.

Woods’ victory in the Arnold Palmer Invitational last year was his eighth title at Bay Hill, and vaulted him back to No.1 in the world for the first time since 2010.

Although he is a three-time winner of the WGC Match Play, Woods’s decision to skip it had been expected.

He was due to head to Sochi to watch his girlfriend Lindsey Vonn, until she was forced out of the Winter Games because a knee injury.

“I had planned to take that week off and travel with Lindsey to Sochi, but unfortunately that won’t happen,” Woods said. “Instead, I’ll stay home and prepare for the Florida tournaments.”