Furyk disqualified by ‘ridiculous’ rule

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August 26, 2010

Jim Furyk has been disqualified from The Barclays after missing his 7.30am pro-am time on Wednesday morning.

World number six Jim Furyk has been disqualified from the first of the FedEx Cup play-offs in America – a day before it has even started.
Furyk was barred from The Barclays tournament in New Jersey because he overslept and missed his 7.30am tee-off time in the curtain-raising pro-am.
The Ryder Cup star, who will win his seventh cap against Europe at Celtic Manor in October, was third in the play-off standings, but will now have to wait and see how much his blunder affects him in the four-tournament series.
Furyk set a wake-up call on his mobile phone, but the power ran out during the night.
It has been a policy of the US Tour – and the women’s circuit in America – that anyone failing to show for the pro-am will be disqualified from the event except when it is an injury or a family emergency.
The DQ does not eliminate Furyk from the play-offs, but it does deny him the opportunity to solidify his spot going into the next event, the Deutsche Bank Championship at TPC Boston.
According to the PGA Tour’s Playoff scenarios, Furyk could drop as far as 19th on the points list after The Barclays, depending on how others perform this week.
Furyk was scheduled to play with No.1-ranked Ernie Els and No. 2 Steve Stricker in the first two rounds on Thursday and Friday.
Els said: “It’s obviously a bit of a shock.
“He paid the ultimate penalty. Jim is the ultimate professional, if there is one out there, but unfortunately we have rules.
“He does a lot of stuff for the Tour that benefits the Tour, so you could definitely have an argument to somehow help a player when he’s qualified for the play-offs. Maybe penalise him some points or something.”
Phil Mickelson described Furyk’s disqualification as ridiculous.
“The rule itself applies to only half the field,” said Mickelson, referring to the fact that not all the players are required for the pro-am.
“So if you’re going to have a rule that does not apply to everybody you cannot have it affect the competition.
“It’s got to be a different penalty. It can’t be disqualification if it only applies to half the field.
“It’s not protecting the players. It’s not protecting the sponsors. Yet it affects the integrity of the competition.
“I cannot disagree with it more. I have no idea how the Commissioner (Tim Finchem) let this rule go through. It’s ridiculous. I made my viewpoint very clear to him.”