Getty Scottie Scheffler
Scottie Scheffler and other professional golfing stars had their final hole interrupted when a group of protesters began running around the course at the Travelers Championship on June 23, unleashing smoke bombs.
Video shows multiple protesters storming the course and spraying off red and white smoke, while being chased and tackled by security officials. The protesters “charged the green with smoke bombs,” according to CBS Sports.
According to ESPN, six protesters “came out of the crowd and stormed the 18th green” while Scottie Scheffler, Tom Kim and Akshay Bhatia were lining up their putts on the final hole.
They left “stains on the grass,” but were “apprehended quickly,” ESPN reported, adding that the reason for the protest was not clear. However, some photos showed at least one of the activists was wearing a T-shirt reading “no golf on a dead planet” leading people to believe they were climate change activists. The Hartford Courant newspaper reported that the protesters were “climate protesters.” The Hartford Courant reported that four of the protesters were wearing shirts with that slogan.
You’re telling me these two people colluded to protest at the 18th hole of the Travelers Championship??
The protest occurred on the 72nd hole of the 2024 Travelers Championship in Connecticut on June 23, according to CBS Sports. According to the Hartford Courant, the group of protesters “ran down from the hill and through the greenside bunkers.”
According to CBS Sports, to avoid the potential for “lingering debris on the putting surface,” the PGA decided to “cut a new hole for the playoff” after the protest.
The Protest Stopped the Travelers Championship for About 5 Minutes, Reports Say
Climate activists storm the PGA Tour golf tournament on the 18th hole as they spray green smoke over the course before being tackled to the ground by security.
ESPN reported that the protest delayed the Travelers Championship for about five minutes.
According to ESPN, workers with leaf blowers “came out to clean off the remaining paint. The hole location was moved before the playoff” between Kim and Scheffler.
The protest didn’t seem to distract Scheffler from winning the tournament.
The X page Let’s Talk Sports wrote, “Congrats to Scottie Scheffler for winning the Travelers… oil protests, playoff and all. 6th win of the PGA season already. Incredible! As amazing as Bryson is, Scottie is the undisputed #1 right now.”
According to CBS Sports, fans responded by chanting “U-S-A” and an expletive as the protesters ran around the course. According to the Hartford Courant newspaper, the protesters were all “carried away in handcuffs by police.”
Fans Had Mixed Views of the Protest on Social Media
Watch as protestors storm the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut.
Protesters have been getting more and more aggressive. They need to start dishing out steep fines.
This is not what your right to protest is about.
One person wrote on X, “Staging a protest on the 18th hole of the final day of a PGA event is a great way to raise awareness of the fact that Tom Kim and Scottie Scheffler are going to a playoff hole.”
‘Climate activists’ with shirts that say ‘No Golf on a Dead Planet’ are taken off by police at a PGA event, the Travelers Championship. One of the protestors kicked a planter of roses.
A perfect encapsulation of the phony cause of ‘climate change’ protest.
They hate nature,…
However, another person wrote on X, “Protesters have been getting more and more aggressive. They need to start dishing out steep fines. This is not what your right to protest is about.”
Protest @TravelersChamp !!! On the 18th, right bef #Sceffler hit! Crazy.
Impressive that #Kim still managed to get it to a playoff. 🙌🏻
Another person wrote, “Crazy. Impressive that #Kim still managed to get it to a playoff. 🙌🏻”
Another X user wrote, “After the protest disturbance at the 18th at the Travelers today- one wonder what precautions they are taking @RocketClassic to avoid the same this week.”