Phil calls Furyk's disqualification 'ridiculous'

Phil Mickelson said the PGA Tour rule that disqualified Jim Furyk from the Barclays tournament for missing is pro-am is “ridiculous.” 

“Well, the rule itself applies to only half the field,” Mickelson said Wednesday at the Barclays tournament in Paramus, N.J. “So if you're going to have a rule that does not apply to everybody, because not everybody played the pro-am, you cannot have it affect the competition.”

Mickelson said that the Tour should find another penalty for missing a pro-am.

“It can't be disqualification if it only applies to half the field,” Mickelson said. “So this rule -- it's not protecting the players. It's not protecting the sponsors. It applies to only half the field and yet it affects the integrity of the competition.”

The rule has been in place since 2004 and Mickelson said he has voiced his displeasure with it in the past.

“I cannot disagree with it more,” Mickelson said. “I have no idea how the commissioner let this rule go through. It's ridiculous. I made my viewpoint very clear to him, yes.”

In fact, Mickelson said he suggested a rule change where a player can opt-out of one or two pro-ams each year in exchange for stopping by the hospitality tent or attending a dinner. He said he was only 1-for-22 on his suggestions for pro-ams, but that one was adopted

“I thought that that also included if you missed your tee time you were able to make it up by going to the hospitality tent Thursday or Friday, which is why I was so shocked that [Furyk] ended up being DQ'd because I thought that was included in that rule change,” Mickelson said. “That was my one.”

Mickelson was at the center of a similar controversy in 2007 when he missed a pro-am at the Byron Nelson because bad weather prevented him from flying to Texas the night before. The Tour excused Mickelson’s absence, but many players thought Mickelson ought to have been disqualified from the tournament.