Tiger Woods joins a growing list of big stars skipping the Accenture Match Play

One of the big fears of a match play event, especially a huge professional one with million dollar sponsors, is that the finals will produce two duds. Every golfer dreams of a Tiger Woods versus Phil Mickelson final, but we’ve seen our share of watered down finals over the years of the Accenture Match Play and that is the one knock against this format.

Don’t expect to see your dream final in 2014, as Woods has joined a growing list of huge names that includes Mickelson and Adam Scott that plan on skipping the event that pits the top 64 golfers in the world against each other.

Woods announced on Thursday that he will not be a part of the Match Play this year, citing a need for some time at home and hopefully a little work on that golf game that has produced a lackluster start to the 2014 season.

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

It might be a huge bummer for fans that love the match play that Woods won’t be a part of it, but he hasn’t really been a part of it the last few years. Since the event moved to Dove Mountain in 2009, Woods has failed to make it to the third round, getting bounced in the second round twice and the first round twice over that stretch.

There are plenty of reasons why Woods wouldn’t be excited to play a golf course that obviously hasn’t suited his eye much over the years, but some time at home after a hectic travel schedule might be nice for Tiger so he can set himself up for the Florida swing that takes us right to the Masters.

That said, the opening World Golf Championships event of 2014 is now without the three biggest draws in the game, and if names like Rory McIlroy and Justin Rose bow out early this year, it could be a tough go for this unique event without that star power that Tiger, Mickelson and Scott all bring.

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Shane Bacon is the editor of Devil Ball Golf and Busted Racquet on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shanebaconblogs@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter at @ShaneBacon!