The European Tour could be threatened with legal action after Scotland's Alastair Forsyth missed out on retaining his card by just one place.
Forsyth finished 116th in the Order of Merit after the Italian Open yesterday - won by Frenchman Gregory Havret - with only the top 115 earning a guaranteed starting berth for next season.
But Forsyth's manager Ian Doyle is unhappy that Sergio Garcia has taken one of those 115 places despite having only played 10 Tour events this season, one less than required for European Tour membership.
However, all those players, including Garcia, who qualified for the US5million American Express Championship in St Louis - cancelled in the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11th - have been credited with 'playing' the tournament, therefore taking Garcia up to the required 11 tournaments.
If the event was not counted then Garcia would be taken off the Order of Merit and everyone below him would move up one place, making Forsyth safe in 115th.
Doyle said: "We all understand and appreciate the circumstances surrounding the cancellation of the Amex but Garcia has profited out of it by the Tour allowing the cancelled event to count towards the 11 he must play.
"He has had ample opportunity to play an 11th tournament. We feel it is unfair that a top player is getting the benefit of the doubt from a Tour.
"There is a history of sporting bodies being taken to court to change unfair rules and we did that recently with the governing body of snooker.
"We intend talking to the Tour to try and resolve this issue."
Garcia's last chance to play another event on the European Tour this season comes in this week's Volvo Masters in Spain, but he has shown no intentions of doing so just days after the finish of the US Tour's Championship in Houston - where he was edged out in a four-way play-off.
Forsyth was not the only hard luck story to emerge from Sardinia and there were plenty of others contemplating a visit to the qualifying school after just missing out on keeping their card.
Ireland's David Higgins was one such casualty, failing to make the cut and finishing in 124th spot. The Waterville golfer now faces a trip to Spain later this month in what would be a fifth appearance at qualifying school.