PARAMUS, N.J. – Jim Furyk picked a bad time to sleep in.

Furyk overslept Wednesday when his cell phone lost power overnight and the alarm didn’t go off, causing him to be late for his pro-am tee time in The Barclays. That left PGA Tour officials no choice but to make him ineligible for the first of four FedEx Cup playoff events.

A two-time winner on the tour this year, Furyk is No. 3 in the standings as the race for the $10 million prize gets under way at Ridgewood Country Club without him.

It is unlikely he will fall too far in the standings, though he eliminated any chance of improving.

“I’m kicking myself,” Furyk said. “I have a way of climbing into situations that are all my fault.”

Phil Mickelson appeared to be more furious than Furyk.

Advertisement

“The rule itself applies to only half the field,” said Mickelson, noting that only 54 of the 122 players were in 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. I cannot disagree with it more. I have no idea how the commissioner let this rule go through. It’s ridiculous.”

Furyk awoke at 7:23 a.m. to find out his phone had lost power. He threw on some clothes and shoes, bolted out of his hotel room and rushed to Ridgewood, arriving at 7:35 a.m.

The pro-am was a shotgun start that began at 7:30 a.m. Furyk was to start on the 11th hole, and he realized when he arrived that he had no chance of getting there on time.

Furyk was in such a rush that he did not put on a belt or socks and had not tied his shoes.

The PGA Tour adopted its policy on pro-ams in 2004 after some players began skipping the Wednesday events for suspect reasons. Now, players automatically are disqualified from the tournament if they miss the pro-am except for injury or family emergency.

Retief Goosen was disqualified from the Nissan Open in 2005 when he overslept and missed his pro-am.

 

Copy the Story Link

Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.