Donald apologizes for Twitter blast of Hanse

• By Ryan Lavner
• Sep 2, 2012 4:34 PM ET

NORTON, Mass. – Luke Donald apologized Sunday for an offensive remark directed at architect Gil Hanse that was posted on his Twitter account Saturday. The offending comment has since been deleted.

“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 his third round of the Deutsche Bank Championship.

“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’s Twitter post stemmed from his frustration with the redesign of the par-5 18th hole at TPC Boston, which has been toughened by a shaved area left of the green.

On Saturday evening, the world No. 2 tweeted to his nearly 300,000 followers, “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.”

In what was supposed to be a private message, Donald then tweeted his cellphone number and called Hanse an offensive name. Though he quickly realized his mistake, Donald’s comments were posted on several websites by late Saturday evening.

Donald said Sunday that he’ll likely “take a hiatus” from Twitter.

“It certainly is a powerful tool,” he said, “and you have to be very aware of it.”

As for his thoughts on the 18^th hole now, Donald, who is at 4-under 209, said, “I’m still not that keen on it. 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.”