Luke Donald gets full dose of Twitter in his face

By Dan Loumena

Sept. 3, 2012 12 AM PT

Luke Donald should have checked that Twitter setting one last time Sunday before hitting the send button.

As ESPN football analyst and former NFL coach Herm Edwards likes to say, if you’re about to use social media in a moment of anger, “Don’t press SEND.”

That’s exactly what the former No. 1-ranked golfer from England did after making a bogey at No. 18 to conclude the third round of the Deutsche Bank Championship.

Donald thought he was sending a private message via Twitter when he blasted his cell number. Then he followed that with a tweet about golf course architect Gil Hanse, who designed TPC Boston.

“Gil Hanse is a [expletive]. Haha,” he publicly tweeted.

Within minutes the tweets were posted all over the Internet. His cell began ringing. Donald then issued an apology, after deleting the tweets. Too late.

“I made a mistake, unfortunately,” Donald said. “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 apologize to anyone I offended, especially Gil Hanse.”
Donald, like most athletes, failed to heed Edwards’ advice in a moment following battle: Don’t hit SEND.

“It’s certainly a powerful tool, and you’ve got to be very aware of it,” Donald said. “There’s a certain addiction to Twitter. It’s that constant update that everyone enjoys. But probably wise if I took a little bit of a hiatus maybe.”

Soon all his family and friends will change their contact information for him.

“Probably a new number is in store for me. That’s what I deserve.”

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