Luke Donald in hot water after accidental tweet
Former world number one golfer Luke Donald is in some strife after calling golf course designer a “c*#k”.
Luke Donald walked off the TPC Boston golf course after the second round of the Deutsche Bank championship and had this to say on Twitter:
Nothing quite like hitting my best shot of the day into the last and walking off with a bogie, what a terribly re-designed green
#sourtaste— Luke Donald (@LukeDonald) September 1, 2012
The redesign of the final hole at TPC Boston by 2016 Olympic golf course designer Gil Hanse has been criticised by many for being too severe, but not so publicly by the players themselves. (Although I’m sure Charl Schwartzel has made his feelings known after his four-putt from three feet on Saturday).
It all got much worse soon after though when Donald accidentally sent out a private message to all his Twitter followers which included his phone number along with: “Gil Hanse is a c*#k!! Ha ha”.
The message was obviously intended for a friend and was immediately deleted, but not before it was noticed by many of his followers and the phone number noted. In the press conference that immediately followed, Donald went about apologising.
“I made a mistake, unfortunately,” said Donald. “I made an error. I sent a message that was not meant to go out on Twitter, and I take full responsibility. I realized it immediately, tried to delete it and tried to move on. Unfortunately it got caught up there, and such is life. I didn’t mean to put it out there, and I apologise to anyone I offended, especially Gil Hanse.”
But the damage had been done and his phone started ringing.
“It was ringing pretty hard,” Donald said. “Probably a new number is in store for me. That’s what I deserve.”
Fair play to him for trying to address the situation as quickly as possible but herein lies the issues with professional athletes on Twitter. It can be wonderful for getting a little more personal with fans but too often we see stars get into serious trouble when it’s misused. Donald hinted he may take a sabbatical from Twitter but it’s fair to say there aren’t any winners involved here, and the PGA Tour will be looking for a ‘please explain’ very soon.
