Furyk oversleeps, disqualified from Barclays

PARAMUS, N.J. (AP) - 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 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 down the standings, although 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.

“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.”

Mickelson said he told PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem how he felt at lunch.

Furyk sets his alarm on his cell phone, and he awoke at 7:23 a.m. to find out that 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 he still 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.

Furyk said was the second time in his career that he had overslept and missed a pro-am time. The other occasion was years ago at Bay Hill, when an alternate filled in for two holes until he arrived. That possibility no longer exists under the new policy.

Although he said he was upset about not playing Ridgewood or the tournament, Furyk said the worst of his disqualification was “to possibly, severely hurt a good year.”

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