Top 10 Better Excuses For Jim Furyk to Miss His Pro-Am Tee Time

Entering the first week of the FedEx Cup Playoffs at the Barclays, Jim Furyk had to be feeling pretty good about his chances. He was positioned 3rd in the standings and was coming off a respectable showing at the PGA (T-24).

Practice went well Monday and Tuesday at Ridgewood C.C. across the river from New York. But when Wednesday rolled around, Jim Furyk found himself relegated back to junior high school and telling the teacher, "but the dog ate my homework."

Actually, Furyk said his cell phone lost power overnight and the alarm didn't go off, but you get the picture.

Picture also Furyk scurrying to the golf course sans belt and socks and with his shoes untied. I'm guessing he forgot to brush his teeth too.

Thanks to a 2004 change in PGA Tour policy, players are obligated to show up, and show up on time, for their Wednesday pro-am tee times. Before then there became quite the problem of "dog ate my homework" excuses as to why players couldn't play the pro-am. But with big bucks forked over by amateurs for those coveted playing spots on Wednesday, the tour was forced to find a way to ensure pros showed up.

The penalty for tardiness? Disqualification. That's right, Jim Furyk, #3 in the FedEx Cup Standings going into the playoffs, was DQ'd for being five minutes late to the 7:35 A.M. shotgun start.

Too severe of a penalty you say? Well maybe if he would have used one of these excuses, the tour would have let him slide.

The Top 10 better excuses Jim Furyk should have used for missing his Wednesday morning Pro-Am tee time*:

1. I contracted the H1N1 virus overnight...but I'll be better by Thursday.
   
   


2. Stayed up too late last night watching Murder, She Wrote re-runs. That Jessica Fletcher is some kind of sleuth!
   
   


3. Lost all my belongings in a Skip-Bo tournament to Steve Stricker.
   
   


4. Ian Poulter dropped by, declared my attire a fashion disaster, and stole all of my clothes!
   
   


5. C'mon, my pro-am partners suck!




6. Sorry, but I couldn't pass up breakfast at the Waffle House.
   


7. I was too busy reading the local rules posted on the mirrors inside the locker room. Kind of important stuff, don't ya think?




8. I thought "tea time" was traditionally in the afternoon?




9. I was helping Tiger find a date.




10. Didn't realize New York style coney dogs would have that effect on my intestinal system.

* with contributions from Rhiannon Redding.