Glover: Shoe removal was about spike marks, not AimPoint
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- Lucas Glover confirmed on Instagram that he removed his golf shoes after sinking a birdie putt on the 10th hole Sunday because rules officials flagged complaints that his metal spikes were leaving marks on the greens at TPC Twin Cities — not to protest AimPoint as TV commentators speculated.
- Glover said he has worn spikes for 23 years on the PGA Tour and had never been approached about them mid-round by an official, noting players are now permitted to tap down spike marks and calling the episode a "non issue."
- Fellow competitor Michael Kim posted on X that officials may have misattributed the spike mark complaints to Glover, saying "someone with metal spikes wasn't walking cleanly" and noting other players in surrounding groups also wore metal spikes on the soft, watered bent-grass greens.
- Glover pushed back on the framing that he was protesting the green-reading technology, saying he took his shoes off because it was "literally the only way to not make any marks around the hole" when retrieving his ball.
- Rookie Jackson Koivun won the 3M Open with a closing 5-under 66 for a tournament-record 25-under 259 total, holding off world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler — and Glover said his biggest disappointment was that the shoe incident overshadowed Koivun's breakthrough.
- Glover, the 2009 U.S. Open winner who tied for 57th at 5 under, said he will continue wearing metal spikes at this week's Rocket Classic at Detroit Golf Club.
Why it matters: The misread turned a benign rules clarification into a viral talking point, with TV commentary framing Glover's actions as a protest of AimPoint when he says it was simply about preserving the greens around his ball mark. Glover, 46, doubling down on metal spikes at the Rocket Classic keeps the etiquette debate alive on tour.
