Lucas Glover apologizes for halting play after injuring himself at Northern Trust

Lucas Glover caused a bit of a traffic jam at the 18th hole during the third round of the Northern Trust, and though he had no need to atone for his injury-related holdup, the 2009 U.S. Open champion went to Twitter Saturday night to do just that.

“I feel obligated to apologize for the scene today on 18,” Glover tweeted about the incident in which he struck an approach shot and promptly hit the ground like “a sack of potatoes” after his back right foot slipped on some browned-out grass and he collapsed, hurting his knee.

In a display far less familiar to golf watchers than to fans of the New York Giants, whose doctors helped determine the player had suffered a strain and not a torn ACL like the one on Friday night that ended New England Patriots’ Julian Edelman’s season before it began, Glover stayed on the ground as medical personnel assessed the situation.

“Didn’t think I could put weight on it at the time,” Glover told reporters about the frightening situation. “So just kind of laid down like a sack of potatoes, and once it got under me, I didn’t know whether to move it or not. Still had a little pain. I just wanted somebody that knew more than me to tell me what to do.

“I never meant to cause any problems or that much attention and I hated that it came to that,” he said, “but I didn’t know and I was kind of scared.”

Determined to finish his round, Glover waved off the idea of being carted off the field a la Edelman.

“First couple of guys put me on a stretcher and I laughed at them,” he said. “I mean, only way I wasn’t going to [finish] was if I couldn’t get up.”

Not only did Glover get up, but he finished his round at 2-over 72 and was set to enter Sunday’s final round sharing 52nd place at 2-over for the week— 14 shots off the front-running pace set by Jordan Spieth.

He also offered an unnecessary mea culpa to the three competitors most immediately affected by the lengthy delay his injury caused.

“Obviously was not my intention,” said Glover, who tweeted his remorse for the gridlock to playing partner Grayson Murray and the two guys behind them, David Lingmerth and Morgan Hoffman, “who had to wait and then play through us.

“I hate to think that I may have negatively affected any of my peers today by halting play because of my slip/injury,” Glover posted.