“On Sunday June 23, in a disruption far less severe than that of any extreme weather event, notably the previous day’s lightning strike, Extinction Rebellion activists interrupted play at Travelers Championship, as Scottie Scheffler was playing at the 18th hole,” a statement read, referring to the storm which saw three injured during the third round.
Five individuals jumped from the galleries, carrying cans with green and red smoke, which they sprayed on to the green. They were tackled by police and security guards, although one temporarily escaped by jumping into a bunker. They were all handcuffed and taken away in police cars before the action resumed. Akshay Bhatia, the PGA Tour winner who was playing with Scheffler, detailed his shock.
“I mean, I was scared for my life,” Bhatia said. “I didn’t even really know what was happening. All of a sudden, four, five people come out running on the green. Yeah, I mean, it was kind of weird. But thankfully the cops were there and kept us safe, because that’s just weird stuff.”
Scheffler concurred. “You don’t really know what’s happening, so it can kind of rattle you a little bit, just because there’s people running around the green and there’s police officers running around the green and you don’t know if they’re peaceful, you don’t know what they’re doing, you have no idea what’s going on, so it can be a bit stressful,” he said.
“You could kind of see me and Akshay talking to each other for a minute, basically just trying to calm down. A stressful situation.”
Inevitably, the scenes overshadowed Scheffler’s victory after last week’s poor display at the US Open. He beat Korean Tom Kim in a play-off to lift his sixth title of the year.
Playing off seven at the moment, Murray has already said that his next competitive goal is to become a scratch golfer. While he
A third UK golf club – and the second in Scotland – has announced it is closing down in less than one week. Torrance Park in Lanarkshir
Packing in 70 golfers on a clear autumn day, the tournament, which was held on September 6, included donations, fees and raffles, contributing to the total.
Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inboxGet our free Inside Washington emailGet our free Inside W