Donald apologizes for tweets about Hanse, will take hiatus
PGA Tour

Donald apologizes for tweets about Hanse, will take hiatus

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In a case of poor form discussing what he believes is poor function, world No. 2 Luke Donald apologized Sunday for a tweet calling TPC Boston designer Gil Hanse a PG-13 name after his second round on Saturday.

“I made a mistake, unfortunately. I sent a message that was not meant to go out on Twitter, and I take full responsibility,” Donald said after Day 3 of the Deutsche Bank Championship.

Donald made a bogey at the 18th after hitting what he later described as his "best shot of the day." Flummoxed by Hanse's redesigned green complex, Donald took to Twitter to complain. Thinking he was sending a direct message to a friend, he accidentally tweeted his cell phone number and a message calling Hanse a "cock."

The Englishman eventually deleted the remarks, but not before it had been spotted and posted on other websites.

“I realized it immediately, tried to delete it and tried to move on," Donald said. "Unfortunately, it got caught up there, and such is life. I didn’t mean to put it out there, and I apologize to anyone I offended, especially Gil Hanse.”

While Hanse is on site at TPC Boston this week, Donald has caught more guff from off-site fans who saw the tweet, realized to who the phone number belonged and decided to pay him a quick call. A new phone number will be in Donald's future, as will a "hiatus" from Twitter, he confirmed.

It's not the first time Donald has been outspoken on Twitter in on-course matters. In January, Donald said, in part, "Slow play is killing our sport."

All of the annoyances resulting from the latest pair of critical tweets aside, Donald remains unimpressed with the new green.

“I’m still not that keen on it," he said. "I think the Tour has done a great job in terms of making the course a lot better. But the design in that hole is a bit severe.”

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