Activists pouring smoke and powder stormed the 18th green during the final minutes of the Travellers Championship in Connecticut, some wearing T-shirts with the phrase “NO GOLF ON A DEAD PLANET”. Six individuals were arrested.
A golfer who was involved in a climate change protest that marred the finale of a PGA event in the United States has stated that he was “scared for my life”. Akshay Bhatia was finishing the final round of the Travellers Championship in Connecticut with Scottie Scheffler and Tom Kim when Extinction Rebellion demonstrators attacked the 18th green, unleashing colored smoke and powder.
Six protestors were tackled and arrested by police after the prank on Sunday afternoon, some of them were wearing T-shirts with the words “NO GOLF ON A DEAD PLANET”. Bhatia stated, “I was terrified for my life. I wasn’t even sure what was going on. But, thankfully, the cops were there to keep us safe, because that is, you know, really bizarre stuff.” It happened after the tournament was delayed on Saturday due to three injuries caused by lightning striking a tree near the course.
The protest produced around a five-minute delay in play. Scheffler eventually won the competition via a play-off. The world number one, who was stopped while driving at last month’s PGA Championship, hailed the police response. He stated that personnel “got it taken care of pretty dang fast, and so we were very grateful for that” . Mr Scheffler went on to say, “When something like that happens, you don’t really know what’s going on, so it may be a little unsettling. “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.”