Feb. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Tiger Woods will skip next week's Nissan Open, delaying his pursuit of his eighth straight tournament win on the U.S. PGA Tour.

Woods, the world's No. 1-ranked golfer, has failed to win the tournament in Pacific Palisades, California, in 11 appearances. He withdrew during the tournament's second round last year with flu-like symptoms.

Woods is second in consecutive wins in PGA Tour history, behind Byron Nelson's 11 straight in 1945.

He is next expected to play at the World Golf Championships Accenture Match Play, which will be held Feb. 21-25, according to his Web site.

Woods didn't say why he decided to skip the event at the Riviera Country Club, tournament spokesman Toby Zwikel said in a telephone interview. A 31-year-old California native, Woods first played in the tournament as an amateur in 1992.

While Woods isn't playing, defending Masters Tournament champion Phil Mickelson has entered the Nissan Open field for the first time since 2001, organizers said.

Mickelson, who missed the 36-hole weekend cut at last week's FBR Open, is tied for the lead with Jim Furyk at 12- under-par after today's second round of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. His best finish in eight appearances at the Nissan came in 1999 when he tied for 15th.

At the match play, 64 seeded competitors compete head-to- head over four days instead of the typical stroke-play format. Woods won the event twice, defeating David Toms in the final in 2003 and Davis Love III the following year. He was eliminated in the first round by 64th-seeded Peter O'Malley in 2002.

Started at British Open

Woods, who won his third straight Buick Invitational last month, has a U.S. PGA Tour win streak dating back to the British Open in July. He also won six straight PGA Tour starts from 1999 to 2000 before the streak ended at the Buick Invitational.

His current winning streak only includes events on the U.S. schedule, so his third-place finish at last week's Dubai Desert Classic, a first-round loss at the World Match Play Championship in England and runner-up finishes in Japan and China late last year aren't included.

It also doesn't count his victories at the Grand Slam of Golf in November and the Target World Challenge in December.

After the Match Play Championship, the PGA Tour's next stroke-play event is the Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, from March 1-4. Woods's only appearance at the Honda Classic came in 1993, when he missed the cut as an amateur.

To contact the reporter on this story: Michael Buteau in Atlanta at mbuteau@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: February 9, 2007 20:47 EST