Supershorts: Furyk the rules

American Jim Furyk was disqualified from the first of four lucrative FedExCup playoff events after sleeping late and missing his tee at the Barclays Pro-Am.

Furyk, No 3 on the FedExCup points list, said his cellphone alarm lost power during the night and he only woke up seven minutes before his 7.30am start time.

Furyk said he bolted from his room with no belt, socks and untied shoes but arrived in the locker room five minutes after his start time on the 11th tee.

Slugger White, the US PGA Tour vice president of rules and competitions, said there was no time to get Furyk out to his group on the 11th tee and that an alternate was sent out.

"The rules are the rules," said Furyk.

Bookies go for Burt
You can count on the Aussies never to put some poor sod's feelings ahead of the chance to make a quick buck.

Following his season-blowing missed penalty against the Tigers, TAB sportsbet is offering odds on how many goals Luke Burt will miss tonight against the Rabbitohs.

"Poor Luke Burt held the Eels' season on the tip of his boot against the Tigers last weekend and we think he'll go all out to prove that miss was a one-off," the agency said.

They are so confident he won't muff another kick they are offering odds of, er, $4.

To put that in context, the gummy Sharks are paying $3 to beat the Titans.

Sonny slopes off
There's the Tube driver who shut down London after his colleagues walked out on strike when he was sacked for being caught playing squash when on extended sick leave with a bad back.

There's all those Facebook plonkers who get sacked for blagging about there hangovers online after telling the boss they have ebola.

Now, thanks to Sonny-Bill Williams' skiing jaunt, New Zealand rugby has its own great sickie-gone-wrong story.

Never mind SBW fans, the waters have been smoothed and the great man is due to get back to action for Canterbury Metro this weekend. Unless, of course, 10cm of crisp powder falls on Mt Hutt overnight.

Good week for...
Warriors' fans
The re-signing of boom winger Manu Vatuvei is great news for the Mt Smart faithful. The Beast is in the try-scoring form of his life and can only get better which should pay dividends at the gate if the Warriors continue on their march to the playoffs.

Bad week for...
John Smit
The Springbok captain's 100th test was meant to be a happy event but Richie McCaw and the All Blacks spoiled the party in Soweto. What's worse is that there seems to be suggestions he might not be around for next year's World Cup.

The number... $1b
Is the likely figure Tiger Woods has paid wife Elin Nordegren. Nordegren said she and Woods tried to reconcile. In the end, a marriage "without trust and love" wasn't good for anyone.