LONDON (Reuters) - Twice U.S. Masters champion Jose Maria Olazabal will miss next month's event because the Spaniard is again suffering from rheumatism.

"He has pain in his shoulder, forearms and hands. He can't swing properly so we won't be going," his manager Sergio Gomez told the European Tour website (www.ewropeantour.com).

"He is practicing a little bit but for not much more than an hour. If new miracle remedies help then he will be back but traditional medicine is failing."

Olazabal, 44, who won the coveted Green Jacket in 1994 and 1999, has been out of action since October.

It will be the first Masters he has missed since 1996 when he spent the season on the sidelines after being diagnosed with rheumatoid polyarthritis.

Olazabal fought his way back to fitness and returned for an emotional second victory at Augusta three years later.

He also finished joint third in the 2006 Masters and was a member of the victorious European Ryder Cup team in the same year.

The first major of the season starts on April 8.

(Writing by Tony Jimenez, editing by Ken Ferris)