Ernie Els will not play any tournament golf before the Masters next week after pulling out of the Shell Houston Open at the weekend.
The Callaway golfer has struggled with health problems this year and cited a virus as his reason for withdrawing from the PGA Tour event, Golf.com reports.
Els arrived late at last month''s WGC-CA Championship at Doral after suffering from a similar virus and finished at the bottom of the pack, failing to make par in all four rounds.
In a statement, the 38-year-old South African said that the Houston Open would have been "an important part" of his preparations for the Masters but he had been advised that it would not be in his "best interests" to play in the competition.
He added: "I am very disappointed to have been forced to make this decision because I was really looking forward to playing this week."
The Big Easy has never won at Augusta but has two US Open titles and won the Open Championship in 2002.
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