Par Figaro Golf with Reuters
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THE SPORT SCAN – Scheffler won the first playoff hole of the Travelers Championship on Sunday at Cromwell, beating South Korean Tom Kim afterwards at TPC River Highlands, with a very heated finale.
As the last group stood on the 18th green for the final hole, five protesters rushed onto the course, setting off smoke grenades and spreading a powdery substance onto the green. They were apprehended by police and the area was cleared before the golfers played. “We didn’t really know what was happening.”, Scheffler said. The playoff was to begin on the 18th hole. So tournament officials installed a new hole on the green, away from the powder, while maintenance workers vacuumed up what they could. Scheffler claimed victory on the first hole of overtime.
An organization called Extinction Rebellion issued a press release taking credit for the protest. The group claimed that the protest was not aimed at any particular person or organization, but that it “highlighted the global danger of climate breakdown”. Extinction Rebellion called the actions of the protesters “disruption much less serious than any extreme weather event”. Akshay Bhatia was the third player in the final group.
“I mean I was scared for my life.”said Akshay Bhatia. “I didn’t even know what was happening. All of a sudden, four or five people came running onto the green. It was a bit weird. But luckily the police were there and got us to safety, because it’s, you know, it’s just a weird thing.”. Scheffler, the world number one, also described the sequence of events as «bizarre» and thanked the police for their work. “We had the impression that it passed very quickly”Scheffler said. “But when something like that happens, you don’t really know what’s going on, so it can shake you up a little bit, just because there are people running around the green and there are police officers running around off 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 little stressful.”.
Extinction Rebellion took advantage of lightning that struck TPC River Highlands on Saturday, resulting in two people being hospitalized. “Some people at this championship were injured by lightning yesterday, and it could have been a lot worse than it was. What needs to happen for people to understand?”Lydia Woolley, an activist, said in the statement.
