 Garcia lost in the third round in the 2005 tournament |
Sergio Garcia will skip the WGC Accenture Match Play Championship, the fourth straight year the tournament will be missing a top-ranked player. Clarke Jones, his agent, cited the Spaniard's exhausting schedule as the reason for Garcia not playing.
Ernie Els elected not to go to La Costa for the Championship in 2004 or 2005.
And in 2003, Vijay Singh missed the tournament with an injury. On Monday, the 65th-ranked player in the world will replace Garcia in the draw.
This year's tournament is scheduled to begin on 22 February and will be played over five days.
Last year, David Toms beat Ryder Cup team-mate Chris DiMarco in the final to win a cheque for �686,052.
Garcia lost in the third round to Adam Scott.
MMIX
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