Tiger Woods decided Friday to skip the season-opening Mercedes-Benz Championship, meaning the PGA Tour's ``new era in golf'' will begin next week amid old questions about the absence of its biggest star.

Woods, who was skiing with his family last week in Colorado, said he did not have time to get his game ready and he wanted to spend more time with his family.

He has won six consecutive PGA Tour events, a streak that will remain on hold until Jan. 25 at the Buick Invitational in San Diego, where Woods is the two-time defending champion.

Woods said on his website that he has spent the last 12 days skiing and relaxing with family and friends, ``but I've basically been away from golf since winning the Target World Challenge'' on Dec. 17.

``I considered playing in next week's Mercedes-Benz Championship, the official launch of the new FedExCup, but I just haven't been able to prepare,'' Woods said. ``I usually spend at least one week working on my game before a tournament, and have been unable to do that this year.''

It was the second straight year Woods will not play the winners-only tournament. He missed last year to spend time with his father, whose health was rapidly deteriorating from cancer. Earl Woods died May 3. The only other time Woods did not go to Kapalua was in 2003, when he was recovering from knee surgery.

``Hopefully, everyone will understand,'' Woods said. ``Obviously, this was a tough decision because Gary Planos and his staff at Kapalua Resort always do such a great job with the event.''

Planos, the vice-president of operations at Kapalua and tournament host, looked for bright spots on a day of gathering clouds off the west coast of Maui.

``Obviously, we're disappointed, but we've got a championship to run next week,'' he said. ``Players and weather are risks in this business that I wish I had better control of.''

Woods' absence this year, however, is a setback to PGA Tour officials trying to build momentum for its new FedExCup competition.

The tour revamped its schedule to feature a points race that starts at the Mercedes-Benz Championship and concludes with four ``playoff'' tournaments at the end of the season, with the winner getting US