On the 18th hole of the PGA Tour's Travelers Championship Sunday, there were six climate protestors running onto the green as the golfers were setting up their putts for the end of regulation.
The final competitors Scottie Scheffler, Tom Kim, and Akshay Bhatia were preparing to finish their round, when a group of environmental activists came out from the crowd and ran on the course, letting off smoke bombs, as well as spraying white and red paint powdered substances on the putting surface.
Video of the protestors getting tackled & handcuffed on the 18th green at The Travelers ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/EBfRyaXztQ
— Fore Play (@ForePlayPod) June 23, 2024
"They just came flying down the hill, right out of the gallery," CBS announcer Jim Nantz said.
The protestors were wearing shirts that said, "NO GOLF ON A DEAD PLANET."
🚨⛳️👮♂️ #WATCH — Golf fans chant ‘USA’ & yell at climate protestors after they disrupted play on the 18th green at TPC River Highlands yesterday. One protester wearing a ‘No Golf on a Dead Planet” shirt blew a kiss to fans as she exited. (via @kev421hawks) pic.twitter.com/GWTOBfagt5
— NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) June 24, 2024
The crowd, who were irritated by the disturbance, then started chanting "USA! USA! USA!"
Police were able to de-escalate the situation, and it resulted in only a 15-minute delay.
Bhatia, who finished the tournament in fifth place, was very honest in his post-match interview, as he explained that he was fearful of what just took place.
"I mean, I was scared for my life. I didn't even really know what was happening," Bhatia said. "I was in shock and my heart rate was high. It got low and then once that kind of happened I was just freaked out, I just tried to get over where everyone was."
Kim, who finished in second place behind Scheffler, said it was a big distraction, as he was just one putt away from sending the match into a playoff round when the interruption happened.
"It was just more like it kind of took like the meaning of the putt kind of a way for a second," Kim said of all the commotion. "Because like for the past 17 and a half holes all you're thinking about is golf, and suddenly when that happens... I thought it was a dream for a second. Like the security guards were tackling people and people were getting arrested, like it's just, it's really hard to see nowadays."
Before the protestors disturbed them, Scheffler had a one-stroke lead over Kim, who ended up making his 10-foot birdie putt to tie it, sending the tournament to a playoff round.
That is to say, before the golfers faced off in the tie-breaking round, workers had to come with leaf blowers to clean off the remaining powder on the green.
Ultimately, Scheffler beat Kim with a par on the first hole of sudden death.
"That can be a stressful situation, and you would hate for the tournament to end on something weird happening because of a situation like that," Scheffler said. "Tom and I both tried to calm each other down so we could give it our best shot there on 18."
To point out, both Scheffler and Kim share the same birthday (June 21) and celebrated together before the tournament.
"It's fun competing against your friends," Scheffler said. "But at the same time, it's difficult. Because part of me wants him to miss the putt and part of me wants him to make the putt... But he should remember that putt he made on 18, because it was pretty special. And he's a great player and a great champion."
