American Jim Furyk has been disqualified from the Sun City Golf Challenge for being in breach of the local rule of preferred lies.
Furyk, the only American in the exclusive 12 man field, was disqualified today for an incident which occurred during Thursday's first round, and came about as a result of the different interpretations of the rule on the PGA Tour and the European Tour.
The preferred lies rule states that a player can lift, clean and place his ball on the fairway within one club length of where it originally lay and not closer to the hole. But an additional sentence on the rules sheet caused the confusion. It stated that a player can place his ball only once, and then it is in play. That is how the rule is applied on the European Tour. But on the PGA Tour, a player may place his ball several times, with the ball only in play when he addresses it or makes a stroke at it.
At a function on Friday evening, Furyk overheard PGA Tour rules official Mike Shea discussing this rule with Canadian Mike Weir. Furyk then realised that he was in breach of the rule. "I think it happened on the 13th hole. I was in between clubs and after placing the ball once, I changed clubs and then rotated the ball 90 degrees for the new club. The act of stepping away from the ball was obviously in breach of the rule," said Furyk.
Furyk, who fired rounds of 71 and 67 to lie five strokes behind leader Ernie Els, advised tournament referee Dennis Bruyns of his infringement.
The rules state Furyk was liable for a two-shot penalty, but because he had already signed his card for Thursday's round, he was disqualified for signing for an incorrect score. This is the first time in Furyk's career that he has been disqualified, and the third disqualification in the Sun City Golf Challenge's 21-year history. Nick Price and Nick Faldo were both disqualified in 1992. "It's unfortunate, but the fault is entirely my own," said Furyk.
"We had a players meeting early in the week to discuss this rule, but we didn't discuss the different interpretations of it. I haven't played much in Europe so I was not familiar with the rule there. "But it was clear on the sheet we were given on the first tee on Thursday what the rule implied. I should've read it more clearly. When I went to sleep on Friday night I had a good idea this might happen, so I'm comfortable with the decision."
Furyk has offered to continue playing the final two rounds as a marker for playing partner Price. "I flew a long way to get here and I'm always treated very well here. I felt I had an obligation to play through to Sunday."