The Real Reason Why a PGA Tour Player Strangely Took Off His Shoes After Making a Birdie Putt at 3M Open

Lucas Glover finished T57 at the 3M Open this past weekend. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

PGA Tour veteran Lucas Glover went viral during Sunday’s final round of the 3M Open in Minnesota after he was seen taking his shoes off before collecting his ball from the hole.

The weird scene played out on the 10th hole after Glover made a short birdie putt. Glover, 46, walked over to the side of the green and removed both of his shoes. He then walked over to the hole, grabbed his ball and made his way to the 11th tee.

NESBITT: Jackson Koivun Is the PGA Tour’s Newest Star After 3M Open Win

A Golf Channel announcer later broke it down on the pregame show, saying Glover did it out of protest over players who use the Aimpoint putting technique that has them using their feet around the hole to get a feel for the break. But here’s the thing—Glover later said it had nothing to do with that. Instead, he said he did it because a rules official told him players in a group behind him complained about his metal spikes leaving marks on the greens.

Here’s how the viral moment played out:

Lucas Glover removed his shoes prior to approaching the hole in protest of AimPoint 👀 pic.twitter.com/HNpSZoYPPv

— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) July 26, 2026

“Lucas Glover has been extremely outspoken about his dislike for Aimpoint and how close players are getting to the hole while they’re using this Aimpoint and I guess it has just boiled over and Lucas has had enough,” the Golf Channel announcer said. “He’s making a point right there and I for one totally agree with him. I don’t agree with how close players are stomping around the hole while aim point is going on.”

Glover and the PGA Tour later cleared it up by saying it was about his spikes, not Aimpoint.

"Lucas had been asked to be mindful of his spike marks on the green and was trying to be lighthearted,” the PGA Tour said in a statement.

Glove backed that up, writing on Instagram:

“No, not even close. Nothing to do with Aimpoint, actually,” he said. “Complaints behind me about spike marks. I wear metal. Someone in the group ahead of us was too. Singled me out. Just goofing off.”

On Monday afternoon Glover shared a longer statement on Instagram:

Lucas Glover's statement regarding Spikegate/Shoegate is fantastic: pic.twitter.com/8glMuW44hX

— Alex Myers (@AlexMyers3) July 27, 2026

Glover has been vocal about his distaste of players using Aimpoint to help with their putts, so it’s easy to understand why lots of people at first thought he was protesting it by taking off his shoes. He had this to say last year on his old radio show.

“Statistically, [AimPoint] hasn’t helped anybody make more putts since its inception on the PGA Tour,” Glover said last year. “Statistics have borne that out. It’s also kind of rude to be up near the hole, stomping around figuring out where the break is in your feet. It needs to be banned. It takes forever.”

Here’s an example of Keegan Bradley using Aimpoint a few years ago:

I watched Keegan Bradley use Aimpoint pic.twitter.com/ZISG7Rnd31

— robmillertime (@robmillertime) October 14, 2022

Michael Kim, who played later in the day at the 3M Open, said someone with metal spikes was messing up the greens and a few players didn’t like that. He also pointed out that players are now allowed to tap the spike marks down, so it shouldn’t have been a problem to bring up in the first place.

“The real backstory… someone with metal spikes wasn’t walking cleanly creating some bad spike marks and some player or players complained about it to rules officials thinking it was Lucas,” Kim wrote on X. “Officials told him about it and that’s the reaction. (We can fix spike marks now).”

Glover putt his shoes on moments after walking off the 10th green and then went on to finish tied for 57th in the tournament.

---