Scottie Scheffler claimed his sixth win of the season in the Travelers Championship after a dramatic finish which saw climate protesters storm the 18th green at TPC River Highlands.
Scheffler was lining up a birdie putt on the 72nd hole when a protester ran into the bunker behind him, with others sprinting on to the green and throwing what appeared to be red and white powder on to the putting surface.
A number of the protesters were wearing white T-shirts bearing the slogan “No golf on a dead planet”.
They were quickly tackled by police officers and removed from the green, with Scheffler then narrowly missing his birdie attempt from 25 feet before Tom Kim holed from 10 feet for birdie to force a play-off.
Earlier in the day, tee times in the final round of the KLM Open were delayed by two hours when Extinction Rebellion activists blocked the entrance to The International in Amsterdam.
The same organisation claimed credit for the protest in Connecticut via a press release which read: “With this action, Extinction Rebellion is NOT protesting any individual or organisation.
“Rather, the protest highlights the worldwide danger of climate breakdown. Case in point: the last 13 months were the hottest on record, with extreme weather events around the globe.
“The activists pointed out that natural disasters are already causing large-scale loss of human, animal, and plant life, as well as significant damage to infrastructure, property, and agriculture.
Asked about the protests on the 18th green, Scheffler told CBS: “Fortunately for Tom and me we’re great friends so we were able to kind of relax each other because you don’t really know what’s going on.
“You don’t really understand the situation, there’s people running around everywhere and you don’t really know what’s going to happen so it’s a bit confusing.
Scheffler, who was arrested ahead of the second round of the US PGA Championship last month following an incident with a police officer outside Valhalla, added: “Fortunately the police did a great job getting everything in order very quickly.
“I don’t know how quick it was but it seemed really fast to us so we’re very thankful for them.”
A disappointed Kim, who had led since an opening 62 the day before his 22nd birthday, said: “I fought hard, I really did.
“I played really good this week. Unfortunately the two bogeys I had came from three-putts. I’m not going to look back at this play-off and be like ‘I screwed up’.
“Just to force the play-off was really digging deep and I wish I would have had a bit more of a chance on 18 (in the play-off) but I’m taking this as a huge leap towards the rest of the season.”
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